It means that England's Test series against the West Indies - scheduled to be played in June - has been postponed, while nine rounds of games in the domestic County Championship competition have been lost.

A one-day international and T20 series between England's women and India has also been postponed.

These steps were approved by the ECB Board, which has also decided to push the Blast - the domestic T20 competition played by the 18 professional counties - to as late in the season as possible to give it the best chance of being played.

England's centrally-contracted players have already taken a 20 per cent pay reduction in response to the crisis, which is likely to have a widespread financial consequences on the sport in the country.

While the ECB is still planning for there to be some cricket played in 2020, the possibility of it being able to stage none looms large.

The ECB is intending to play all international matches it was due to stage in the English summer, with it hoped they can be played between the start of July and the end of September, after which the weather is unlikely to be good enough for any games to go ahead.

As well as the West Indies, England's men are due to take on both Pakistan and Australia in the coming months.

The fate of The Hundred - the controversial new 100-ball competition scheduled to launch in July and feature eight new franchises - is to be decided at a Board meeting next Wednesday (April 29).

"Our role as a national governing body during a crisis of this scale requires us to carefully plan alongside cricket’s stakeholders and supporters to attempt to overcome COVID-19's impact on this season," ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said.

"As much as we remain hopeful that we can deliver some cricket this summer, we are in the midst of a worldwide crisis and our priority - over and above the playing of professional sport - will be to protect the vulnerable, key workers and society as a whole.

"That’s why, simply put, there will be no cricket unless it’s safe to play.

"Our schedule will only go ahead if Government guidance permits."

The ECB will now seek advice on how it could implement "a bio-secure solution that offers optimum safety and security for all concerned", Harrison added.

It has been suggested that teams could be kept in quarantine-like conditions before matches - played behind closed doors - are held at stadiums where there are pre-existing hotel facilities, to minimise the risk of spreading the virus.

However, with the United Kingdom still in lockdown and recording almost 19,000 COVID-19 deaths to date, such a plan may prove wishful thinking.