Staging the T20 World Cup this year 'unrealistic', says Cricket Australia Chairman
Cricket Australia (CA) chairman Earl Eddings admitted on Tuesday that staging the T20 World Cup amidst a global pandemic looks ‘unrealistic’. The marquee tournament is slated to take place from October 18 to November 15 this year. But with the international borders closed due to virus-related travel restrictions, the prospect of hosting the 16-team T20 World Cup looks increasingly grim.
"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," Earl Eddings told reporters.
Eddings added that Cricket Australia had already put a number of different options in front of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
"The ICC are having meetings as we speak, it's a bit of a movable feast at the moment," said Earl Eddings.
Cricket Australia remains optimistic about hosting the T20 World Cup this year:
These statements come at a time when Cricket Australia is going through a turmoil.
The unceremonious sacking of CA chief Kevin Roberts and the nasty pay dispute between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) has already rocked Australian cricket, and therefore these statements might come as a shocker to the shareholders.
Cricket Australia is looking to make up for lost revenues and had previously been optimistic about holding the event.
T20 World Cup Chief Executive Nick Hockley, who on Tuesday took over as interim Cricket Australia chief, said he expected the ICC to make a decision about the tournament's future next month.
"We've got a fantastic local organising committee who are busy preparing for every eventuality and the decision that will come," added Nick Hockley.
With IPL also looking for a window to host the tournament, the most likely scenario appears to be postponing the T20 World Cup until next year and waiting for the COVID-19 pandemic to subside.