London, Jun 25 (IANS): England women's captain Heather Knight feels cricket should be allowed to return across the country if people can go to pubs after government eased lockdown rules earlier this week.

Pubs and cafes are set to open from July 4 but recreational cricket and club cricket in England haven't recieved permission to go ahead yet. British PM Boris Johnson went on to the extent of saying 'ball is a natural vector of disease'.

Knight believes there is absolutely no reason why cricket can't resume looking at the situation and if it doesn't then it will have a large scale impact on the sport in the country.

"I'm as surprised as anyone else that cricket can't come back. Obviously, compared to sports like tennis and basketball, it's very similar in terms of the ball," Knight was quoted as saying by Telegraph Sport.

"I don't know the science behind (the virus on) different surfaces but I think there's absolutely no reason why it can't come back.

"If people can go to the pub, I think it's really important for the game that it does come back. I know the ECB are tied a little bit by the government advice and they want it back, but if we don't have it back soon it's going to have such a bad effect on clubs."

International cricket, however, is set to return to England with the 'Three Lions' taking on West Indies in a three-match Test series starting July 8.