Mumbai: Despite most events having been relegated to the cold storage and stories of the ifs and buts of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Twenty20 Men’s World Cup making rounds, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is still hoping against hope about proceeding with the event scheduled to be held in Australia in October/November 2020.
It is evident the ICC is chasing a mirage, as none of the sports events planned this year are being held in the current circumstances, with the coronavirus pandemic throwing the best-laid plans of mice and mice awry.
So, what's next? With the door likely to shut on the T20 World Cup in the form of postponement, a window of opportunity opens for the IPL, which according to the ICC is more important, not because of its (IPL) status but because of the money. The wise men are reasoning, "The IPL will give players time to warm up for the T20 World Cup,” according to sources.
The ICC is likely to aim for hosting the T20 World Cup in February-March 2021, thereby opening the opportunity to stage the Indian Premier League (IPL) in September-October this year, which seems unlikely on all counts. Coronavirus has brought cricket to a standstill, just like all other sports. The ICC is in the process of formulating contingency plans and a future course of action for when cricket finally resumes.
At its meeting on Thursday, its chief executives collectively agreed to reschedule the Future Tours Programme to 2023, because of the pandemic, while contingency plans are being made to hold the T20 World Cup in Australia in October and November.
"The CEC was updated on the continuing contingency planning for all ICC global events, including the ICC men's T20 World Cup 2020 and the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2021," officials said. Planning for both events as currently scheduled is ongoing.
Cricket Australia Chief Executive Kevin Roberts has said that they are exploring all options regarding the T20 World Cup and closely liaising with the ICC and the Australian government. Australia, runners-up in 2010 in the Caribbean, are slated to host the abridged version of the showpiece from October 18 to November 15. But whether it can be played during those dates remains a mystery, with coronavirus holding the key.
Meanwhile, the World Test Championship and the inaugural ODI League were the two major issues on the agenda during the meeting but organising the T20 World Cup is the first major task at hand for the ICC and Cricket Australia. Among the various options proposed during the meeting, majority of the member boards seemed to be in agreement on three possible options as far as the scheduling of T20 World Cup is concerned.
from Free Press Journal https://ift.tt/3eJgybf
via IFTTT
0 comments:
Post a Comment