Express & Star comment: Sport return essential for mental health

Exercises at home have been all very well, and the new liberation in the amount of exercising beyond your four walls is very welcome, but it will not be surprising if studies find that one of the big impacts of the Stay At Home message has been to create a population which is less fit, and so more unhealthy.

Now we have the prospect of a gradual return of some recreational sport. There will be many desperate to resume their sporting interests and, while we may wait a while before top flight football and cricket resumes, at least people now have some alternatives to walking and jogging.

The impact on people’s mental health should not be underestimated and so the return of fishing and tennis together with golf will provide a much-needed lift. They are activities in which it should not be too difficult to follow the rules on social distancing. The experts also tell us that being out in the open air has less risk of transmitting infection than being cooped up indoors.

Those folk who have been prevented from having a round of golf may not have been ill, but being able to get on the greens again will make them feel a whole lot better in the circumstances.There are some sporting activities and team sports which do not readily lend themselves to this relaxation. Imagine a game of football played observing social distancing rules.

It would be a very different game. And it may be a long time before we see a rugby scrum again. Cricket? That’s one team sport where it might be possible to have a match which respects social distancing and yet still has some relationship to the sport as we have always known it.

There remains the issue of social distancing among spectators. A halfway house solution may be sporting occasions with zero atmosphere from the stands. These relaxations are baby steps towards something resembling normality, but nobody doubts that there remains a long way to go on this particular journey.