The International Cricket Council’s position could not be more amplified than by the fact that the ICC Twenty20 World Cup does not have a place to land, even if postponed by a year.
The ICC announced yesterday, after much intense speculation, that this year’s ICC Twenty20 World Cup stood postponed until next year given the current situation of the Coronavirus pandemic. It did announce the dates for the next two years for the tournament to go ahead while also, confirming the revised dates for the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2023 scheduled to be hosted in India.
The ICC finally made the announcement that seemed a foregone conclusion when Cricket Australia made a public brouhaha in front of the media about the infeasibility of hosting this year’s edition slated for mid-October. But what made the announcement significant was that the ICC did not specify the hosts for the 2021 and 2022 edition.
It was the culmination of the story of the summer as the ICC wanted assurances from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding tax exemptions in hosting the next edition and had been buying time since the CA spectacle – the Australia board had no trouble announcing its wish to not only host India at the end of the year but also, lengthen the tour if possible given the significantly larger revenue at stake – to find an alternate host.
It is believed that the CA had suggested to the ICC its intention to host the 2021 edition in lieu of India and leave the 2022 timetable to India. However, in later developments, there were reported objections from the BCCI that further added spanner in the works for the ICC to arrive at a definitive solution.
As things stand, the World Cups are no good to go commencing next year. But as far as booking flights go, the teams have to sit tight a little longer while the ICC sorts out the friction in the board room.