IPL pundit Dean Jones claims T20 World Cup 'will' not be taking place in 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has jeopardized the commencement of the T20 World Cup that is supposed to take place in Australia later this year. There are a lot of conjectures surrounding the tournament's fate. Several cricketing pundits have had their say on the fate of the marque event. Now, joining this bandwagon is former Australia cricketer-turned-commentator Dean Jones, who has opined that the T20 World Cup in his home country, is not going to happen this year

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Dean Jones has his say on the T20 World Cup, explains importance of India-Australia series

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to take the final call on the fate of the tournament when it meets via video conference on June 10. However, Dean Jones feels that considering the fact that it is a world tournament consisting of 16 teams and their support staff, it would be nearly impossible to cut back such a huge number of personnel. While speaking to Sportscreen's YouTube page, Dean Jones said that the T20 World Cup isn’t going to happen in Australia this year for a lot of reasons. 

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Dean Jones added that Cricket Australia has retrenched a lot of people. So when you have 16 teams here and 30-40 people per team including staff, players and administrators, you won’t be able to do it. Dean Jones further said another reason why it would be difficult to execute it is because of the strict cover restrictions in Australia. Dean Jones also said that the host country doesn’t make much money by hosting a World Cup under the new rules which they previously used to.

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Dean Jones pointed out that considering the fact that host nations do not make money by hosting a World Cup currently, the upcoming India-Australia series will be vital as far as Cricket Australia’s financial health is concerned. He said Cricket Australia will make $220 million USD on a full India tour of four Tests and ODIs. He also acknowledged the fact that Cricket Australia is in trouble, like all other cricket boards and so they are trying to protect their own space. Dean Jones added that Australia can handle India but won't be able to handle 15 other countries going there.

Last month, Cricket Australia announced the venues of the four-match Test series against India. The series will kick off at the Gabba on December 3. It will be followed by a pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval before the traditional Boxing Day and New Year Test takes over.

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IMAGE COURTESY: DEAN JONES INSTAGRAM