ICC to have crucial meeting over T20 World Cup with Cricket Australia on May 8: Report

The coronavirus pandemic has cast a major doubt over the future to the ICC T20 World Cup slated to begin in Australia in October. With the postponement of IPL and other bilateral series across the globe, the T20 World Cup could also face a similar fate with many countries forced into lockdown. Many former and current cricketers have called for the postponement of the global event and ICC and Cricket Australia are set to discuss the future of the T20 World Cup. 

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ICC, Cricket Australia to discuss the future of T20 World Cup

According to a report in The Times of India, the ICC will hold a teleconference with Cricket Australia on Friday, May 8 to discuss the possibility of hosting the T20 World Cup. The meeting will also discuss the prospect of rescheduling the tournament to 2021. Cricket Australia and ICC had discussed the future of the T20 World Cup on April 23 and CA CEO Kevin Roberts had said that they were working closely with the government guidelines and the ICC. 

Roberts added that they are exploring all possible outcomes and the CA is expected to convey a similar sentiment on Friday. A source said that a holding statement is the likely outcome fo the teleconference with a new chairman coming on board. 

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Cricket Australia faces the 'gargantuan' task of holding ICC T20 World Cup

The Australian government placed a six-month lockdown on international borders in March amidst the coronavirus pandemic, which will end in mid-September. With the T20 World Cup scheduled between October 18 to November, Cricket Australia face an uphill task of arranging the logistics in a month for the tournament. Australian cricketer Chris Lynn already expressed his concerns and said that it would be a 'logistical nightmare' for the tournament to go as planned. For now, Cricket Australia is likely to keep a track of circumstances and watch the developments. 

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It is likely that Cricket Australia could either shift the tournament to 2021, which could make India host the next T20 World Cup in 2022. With no 2022 having no ICC events scheduled, Australia could even host the tournament that year which allows India to host it as per original schedule in 2021 itself. The last option could well be Cricket Australia hosting the event this year itself but with the prospects of lesser venues, behind closed doors and getting approval from other member nations for the same.

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