Cricket Australia explains why it is risky to host T20 World Cup this year due to COVID-19

Cricket Australia (CA) has warned of high-risk possibility if the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 takes place later this year. The seventh edition of the T20 cricket's showpiece event is scheduled to be held in Australia in October-November. but there is a possibility of the event getting canceled due to the global pandemic. 

READ: ICC Defers Its Decision On World Cup T20 To Its Next Meeting On June 10

'There is a very high risk': Kevin Roberts

During an interview with a publication, the Chief Executive Officer of Cricket Australia, Kevin Roberts went on to say that they obviously have been hopeful all along that the T20 World Cup could be staged in October-November but at the same time, there is a huge risk about the prospect of that happening. Roberts then mentioned that if the event does not happen, then there are potential windows in the February-March period and then in  October-November the following year.

Furthermore, he added that there are implications in Australia for the International Cricket Council ( ICC )over a number of years and hence, there is a lot of complexity for the ICC to deal with.

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ICC Defers Its Decision On World Cup T20 To Its Next Meeting On June 10

ICC on Thursday neither postponed nor taken any call on staging or deferring the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia in October this year.Following a long 4 hour meeting, ICC deferred all the listed agenda, including the all-important decision to stage or postpone World Cup T20, to its next Board meeting on June 10. The decision to defer the agenda was taken following a discussion led by Chairman Shashank Manohar with other Board members via teleconference around the issue of confidentiality.
According to an ICC release, 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."

(Image Courtesy: AP)