SYDNEY (Australia): Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings admitted on Tuesday that staging the Twenty20 World Cup this year is “unrealistic” in the midst of a global coronavirus pandemic.
The tournament is scheduled to take place from October 18 to November 15, and officials have previously said they are planning for it to proceed on those dates.
But with many global borders still shut due to virus-related travel restrictions, Eddings conceded that was looking increasingly unlikely.
“While it hasn’t been formally called off this year, or postponed, trying to get 16 countries into Australia in the current world, where most countries are still going through COVID spiking, I think it’s unrealistic, or it’s going to be very, very difficult,” he told reporters.
Eddings said Cricket Australia had put forward a number of options to the International Cricket Council (ICC).
However, last week the ICC Board agreed to continue exploring a number of contingency plans regarding the future of the T20 World Cup 2020 and the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 until next month.
The Board expressed its desire to continue to assess and evaluate the rapidly changing public health situation caused by COVID-19 working with key stakeholders including governments to explore how the events can be staged to protect the health and safety of everyone involved.
This contingency planning process will evaluate health and safety, cricket, partner and host considerations ensuring any decision taken is in the best interests of the sport, its Members and fans.
