Do cricket balls really spread coronavirus?

Cricket is now back on in England, despite Boris Johnson declaring cricket balls a “natural vector of disease”. His statement has frustrated cricket fans and players, but has also raised the wider question of which activities spread COVID-19. After all, unlike other activities that the UK government is actively encouraging, such as visiting pubs or restaurants, cricket is an outdoor sport where players are very unlikely to come into contact with each other.

To determine whether a cricket ball is particularly dangerous for spreading the virus, we need to consider the experimental evidence – though it is limited. Indeed, the prime minister’s comments reveal a broader truth about a lot of current health advice: there is often a big gap between the evidence available and the advice dispensed.