ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 was supposed to be held in Australia. (Source: File)
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 has been officially postponed after the ICC board met virtually on Monday.
The global event was supposed to be held from October 18 to November 15 in Australia but the country’s cricket board had, in May itself, expressed its inability to host amid a second surge of COVID-19 cases in the state of Victoria.
“At today’s meeting … windows for the next three ICC men’s events were also agreed to bring clarity to the calendar and give the sport the best possible opportunity,” the ICC said in a statement after a meeting.
The postponement paves the way for the BCCI to organise this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) in October-November, likely in the UAE.
At the meeting, the windows for the next three ICC men’s events were also agreed to bring clarity to the calendar.
The windows for the Men’s events are:
— ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 will be held October – November 2021 with the final on 14 November 2021
— ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 will be held October – November 2022 with the final on 13 November 2022
— ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will be held in India October – November 2023 with the final on 26 November 2023
ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said in a statement: “We have undertaken a comprehensive and complex contingency planning exercise and through this process, our number one priority has been to protect the health and safety of everyone involved in the sport.
“The decision to postpone the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was taken after careful consideration of all of the options available to us and gives us the best possible opportunity of delivering two safe and successful T20 World Cups for fans around the world.
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“Our Members now have the clarity they need around event windows to enable them to reschedule lost bilateral and domestic cricket. Moving the Men’s Cricket World Cup to a later window is a critical element of this and gives us a better chance of maintaining the integrity of the qualification process. This additional time will be used to reschedule games that might be lost because of the pandemic ensuring qualification can be decided on the field of play.
“Throughout this process we have worked closely with our key stakeholders including governments, Members, broadcasters, partners and medical experts to enable us to reach a collective decision for the good of the game and our fans. I would like to thank everyone involved for their commitment to a safe return to cricket.”
The IBC Board (the commercial subsidiary of the ICC) said that they would continue to evaluate the situation in relation to being able to stage the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 in New Zealand in February next year. In the meantime, planning for this event continues as scheduled.
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