The International Cricket Council (ICC) in a recent video conference with members of the respective boards deferred the decision on the conduct of the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia, scheduled later this year.
The apex cricketing body revealed about closely monitoring the ‘dynamic’ situation amid COVID-19 pandemic situation, with government and health officials, while prioritizing the safety of players. Therefore, ICC postponed an affirmative call on the upcoming multilateral event until next month.
In recent developments, Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, gave a significant boost to morale, hinting about opening doors to as many as 10,000 spectators at sporting venues in July, in their bid to organize the T20 showpiece event later this year.
Morrison gave a green signal to stadiums with a capacity less than 40,000, the permission to host up to 10,000 spectators. It, however, leaves out quintessential Australian stands such as the SCG, MCG and Adelaide Oval.
“This is going to be looked at over the next few weeks. For the larger ones (venues) I would venture that it would be the subject of a discrete approval for each venue that would be worked out with the Chief Health Officer in each state or territory,” Morrison was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“So by the time you get into July, there may be that type of opportunity for the rules that apply to those under 40,000 carry over to those above 40,000. These will be practical, common sense issues, worked through by the medical expert panel over the next few weeks and I think they will give great instruction,” added the Australian Prime Minister.
“When you’re up above 40,000, you’ve got more than 10,000 people going to a gathering, that has implications for the egress and access of and to those premises, public transport crushes, all those sorts of things. That will require much more significant work,” concluded Morrison.
The onset of COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the cricketing calendar of 2020, which involved marquee T20 events such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the T20 World Cup.
India is set to tour Australia in December this year to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Meanwhile, England will host the West Indies in July, and Pakistan in August to resume the English summer.
