Those optimistic about the T20 World Cup 2020 Down Under in October-November will be disappointed with this realistic assessment of the Cricket Australia Chairman Earl Eddings.
Amidst all the heat around exit of Cricket Australia Chief Executive Kevin Robertson, Eddings has told reporters on Tuesday that the T20 World Cup in Australia would be “unrealistic and very, very difficult”.
The statement further strengthens the belief that Cricket Australia as it had reportedly informed the International Cricket Council is not ready to host the World Cup.
A final verdict from the ICC on the status of the tournament will come next month once the next dates for the competition are finalised. The decision would eventually be taken by the ICC Board. The ICC did not want to rush with the announcement about postponement without declaring the revised dates as it would have virtually amounted to cancellation of the event.
With the travel restrictions in place due to the prevailing COVID-19 threat, Eddings believes that it would be difficult to host the World Cup as per the original schedule from , originally scheduled to take place from October 18 to November 15.
“While it hasn’t been formally called off this year, or postponed, trying to get 16 countries into Australia in the current world, where most countries are still going through COVID spiking, I think it’s unrealistic, or it’s going to be very, very difficult,” Eddings had told reporters.
“The ICC are having meetings as we speak, it’s a bit of a movable feast at the moment,” he further added.
T20 World Cup chief Nick Hockley, who took over the role of interim Cricket Australia chief, however, kept the speculation around the World Cup alive. “We’ve got a fantastic local organising committee who are busy preparing for every eventuality and the decision that will come,” he said.