Australia asks for World Cup to be postponed

Cricket Australia has asked the ICC to postpone the T20 World Cup it was scheduled to host in October-November this year.

Australian T20 captain Aaron Finch at the SCG. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts has defended his calls for major cuts to state grants and other programs as it emerged the organisation is negotiating to have this year’s T20 World Cup postponed until 2021.

Speaking to the media for the first time since last month, Roberts said that despite the Indian tour looking certain to go ahead this summer, the business is budgeting for hits from loss of gate revenue, biosecurity arrangements, the World Cup shifting from October-November this year and bad debts.

At the same time as CA wrestles with players, states and its own staff over the size of the cuts, the ICC board was thrown into chaos by a string of leaks about succession plans for the new chair, internal investigations and plans to shift the T20 World Cup.

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An email from CA chairman Earl Eddings was one document leaked to media in India. In it he says Australia would prefer if it could hold the World Cup in October-November 2021. The organisation had been offered options by the ICC, including shifting it to the end of this year’s summer or as far back as 2022.

India is keen for the 2020 event to be cancelled so it can host the IPL, which was postponed because of the virus.

In the letter Eddings said: “It would be detrimental to cricket if the cancellation of the Australian event is replaced by awarding of the subsequent T20 World Cup in October-November 2022.

“Australia has thankfully managed to flatten the (COVID) curve, meaning there is greater certainty of being able to play in Australia in 2021 (which is key to maintaining member distribution). This would give India another year to resolve any COVID-related problems.”

Leaks to the media caused chaos at the ICC and Thursday’s board meeting was abandoned while members addressed the situation.

“The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board met via teleconference today with all agenda items deferred until 10 June 2020 following a discussion, led by Chairman Shashank Manohar, around the issue of confidentiality,” the ICC said in a statement.

“A number of Board members had raised their concerns over this issue recently and felt it required immediate attention to ensure the sanctity and confidentiality of Board matters in line with the highest standards of governance.

“There was unanimous agreement to immediately initiate an independent investigation led by the ICC’s Ethics Officer and supported by global experts. The Board will be updated on this by the ICC CEO at its next meeting on 10 June 2020.

“The Board also requested the ICC management continue with their discussions with stakeholders in exploring various contingency options in light of the rapidly changing public health situation caused by the COVID-19 virus.”

Roberts, meanwhile, admitted there would job losses at Cricket Australia on top of the more than 100 positions already cut by the state associations.

“We’ve made a commitment to significantly reduce the cost base of Cricket Australia. Unfortunately, that means that no area of the organisation will be untouched,” Roberts said on Friday morning.

“It’s premature to talk about the details of those plans. That will come in the not-too-distant future. We are really focused on the activities that will drive positive cashflow for Australian cricket given the importance of CA generating revenue to support states and territories.

“We’re also focused on maintaining as much investment as possible in community cricket as a critical strategic priority for us. But no area of the organisation will be untouched.

“As I’ve said before, it’s unfortunate that there will be an impact on our people. But as you’d appreciate, we’re stepping through the planning of that very carefully to make sure that we can minimise on the impact of the circumstances.

“It’s fair to say there will be reductions right across Cricket Australia and that’s unavoidable given the need to reduce to the extent that we are.”

Roberts said a postponement of the T20 World Cup would cause a $20m revenue shortfall – although later revelations suggest it would be recouped 12 months later. He also said it faces a shortfall of $50m from the gate if there are no crowds, and biosecurity arrangements would cost $10m.

“We’re very optimistic that we’ll be able to stage the Indian men’s tours and the other inbound tours for the season. We’re realistic enough to know they will look very different to a normal summer,” Roberts said.

“In terms of all the scenarios no one has a crystal ball, none of us have lived through a situation like this before and hence we’ve been forced to effectively plan for the worst and hope for the best.

“We’re optimistic that we will withstand this situation and we’re hopeful we can deliver the season looking very similarly to the schedule we’ve just released.”

Roberts denied claims CA was slow in releasing financial information to states, saying it had answered questions in emails and video meetings.

“We’ve certainly answered just about every question that’s come out way, there’s a couple that remain to be answered and we’re in the process of doing so, and there’s some that are of a more confidential nature,” Roberts said.