England fast bowler James Anderson fears the global coronavirus pandemic could see the domestic and international cricket season abandoned completely.
The England and Wales Cricket Board are due to meet with the 18 first-class counties, possibly by teleconference, in a bid to see whether the existing structure for the 2020 summer can be maintained.
The County Championship is meant to start on April 12 but a delay looks increasingly likely given other sports have called a halt following British government advice to avoid mass gatherings.
“Cricket and sport is not the be all and end all but it is my livelihood, it’s all I know,” Anderson told the BBC’s Tailenders podcast.
“The season is unlikely to start. It’s still a little bit hazy as to what’s going to happen. There’s a chance we might not even bowl a ball this summer.”
Anderson made the last of his 151 Test appearances against South Africa in Cape Town in January before a broken rib saw him miss the last two matches of the series.
The 37-year-old was not selected for the Sri Lanka series in the hope he would be fully fit for the start of the home season. The Lancashire paceman, England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker, added: “I feel a little bit anxious. Just the not knowing is giving me a bit of anxiety.”
England postponed their tour of Sri Lanka last week. They are next meant to play the West Indies in a three-Test home series, starting on June 4.
But if that is not possible, Cricket West Indies have offered to stage the series in the Caribbean.
CWI chief executive Johnny Grave said on Wednesday he had held talks with ECB counterpart Tom Harrison.