Postponed T-20 World Cup leaves Cricket Australia facing minefield of issues
A multi-million dollar bill, headaches for the Sheffield Shield and IPL and the prospect of the Boxing Day Test moving. These are just some of the issues Cricket Australia must deal with after the T20 World Cup was postponed.
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Australia remains committed to launching its summer against Afghanistan despite the fact it will now be left with a multi-million dollar bill after the Twenty20 World Cup was postponed.
The ICC was poised to pay for Afghanistan’s ticket to Australia for the showpiece tournament but with that now set to be played in either 2021 or 2022 the bill will be passed to Cricket Australia.
There remains a minefield of issues to work through for this summer, starting with the Indian Premier League’s looming clash with the Sheffield Shield.
If the likes of David Warner, Steve Smith and Pat Cummins abandon domestic cricket so they can line their pockets in the IPL in Dubai then they would have a tight turnaround from quarantine to be ready for day one of the Afghanistan Test on November 21 at Perth Stadium.
“Some of our best players are top picks for those IPL teams. It’s a bit premature to speculate on that (tournament taking place),” CA interim boss Nick Hockley said.
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“Afghanistan are scheduled to come, they’re scheduled to play and we all want to see Test cricket back up and running. For the moment the schedule is as it is.”
Perth is contractually entitled to a Test match every summer and so if the Afghanistan match falls over it could receive one of the blockbuster Tests against India.
Should the opening Test be shifted from the Gabba to Perth then the start of the Big Bash League would be thrown out because games could no longer be played after stumps due to Western Australia’s three-hour time difference.
But if Melbourne’s COVID-19 crisis hasn’t cleared then Perth could make another play for the Boxing Day Test.
Hockley said cricket needed to adopt the AFL’s level of flexibility this summer. He was unfazed whether Australia received the 2021 or 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup.
The BCCI wants the T20 World Cup in 2021 to allow for more breathing space before it hosts the 2023 ODI World Cup. All three events will be staged in October-November windows.
But with India passing one million cases of coronavirus there are fears it will not be ready to host a T20 World Cup by October next year.
Hockley said Australia’s World Cup would replicate the postponed event, with 16 countries to compete in the same format and with the MCG to host the final.
Hockley was hopeful India would have access to “absolute best” training facilities during their 14-day quarantine upon arrival in Australia this summer.
“That’s absolutely the intention that we can create optimal provisions for those returning from overseas tours,” Hockley said.
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“We will need to get (travel) exemptions. It’s unlikely that international travel restrictions will have lifted by the time India will be due to come into the country.
“Clearly, there’ll be testing regimes. The reality is we are able to test.”
India could bring as many as 20-25 players out with Adelaide Oval the tourist’s most likely base, because they could train and live in a bubble at the ground’s brand new neighbouring hotel.
England has successfully hosted Test matches against West Indies at Southampton and Manchester this month, which have hotels attached to those grounds.
Originally published as Postponed T-20 World Cup leaves Cricket Australia facing minefield of issues