Cricket Australia backs ICC’s decision to cancel T20 World Cup, reveals Nick Hockley
Cricket Australia's interim chief executive Nick Hockley has admitted that the ICC’s decision of postponing the T20 World Cup was made keeping safety in mind given the current COVID-19 situation. The ICC, on Monday, officially called off the T20 World Cup which was to be staged in Australia.
Owing to the coronavirus-induced pandemic, the International Cricket Council (ICC) officially called off the 2020 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on Monday. The ICC mega event was originally scheduled to begin on October 18 down under. In this regard, chief executive of the ICC T20 World Cup 2020, Nick Hockley revealed that Cricket Australia backed the governing council’s decision to call of the world tournament that involved 16 teams.
However, the ICC is yet to make a call on who gets to host the 2021 Men’s T20 World Cup. Hockley added that the ICC took the call keeping players’ safety in mind and also the fact that an event so big could not be held in the absence of a crowd.
"The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting sporting tournaments across the globe and cricket is not immune. The complexities and risks around hosting a 16-team international event in October in the current environment ultimately proved sufficient for the ICC to postpone the event," Hockley said in a statement, reported TOI.
"We accept the ICC's decision to postpone the T20 World Cup in Australia. It was a decision made with the safety and wellbeing of fans, players, officials and staff in mind. We are confident that with this decision, we will give ourselves the best chance to safely welcome fans into the outstanding venues across the country to enjoy watching the world's best men's cricketers compete in this major global event in either 2021 or 2022," Hockley added.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic took over, Australia successfully staged the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in February-March this year. In this regard, Hockley attested that CA would do the same when it’s allowed to host the men's event.
"A lot of hard work has gone into hosting the tournament in Australia this year and I would like to thank everyone involved for their passion and commitment. The ICC women's T20 World Cup earlier this year will forever be remembered as a ground-breaking moment in Australian sport, and I have no doubt the men's edition will also be a spectacular event," Hockley added.
Hockley also mentioned that there would be no changes to the well-defined two-week quarantine period when India arrives in Australia later in 2020 for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He also indicated that the Adelaide Oval would be one of the venues, which would be bio-secure, with the venue having a hotel attached to the venue.
“The two-week quarantine is pretty well-defined. What we are working on is making sure that even within that quarantine environment, the players have got the absolute best training facilities, so that their preparation for the matches is as optimal as it can possibly be,” Hockley was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“We’ll obviously take the guidance of the health experts and the authorities. Whether it’s a hotel on-site or hotels in close proximity to venues, it’s certainly about creating that environment where we are minimising the risk of infections and creating a bio-secure environment is the absolute priority. There’s a huge amount at stake if we are unable to do that. Certainly the fact that the Adelaide Oval has a hotel…it does provide a facility not dissimilar to Old Trafford or Ageas Bowl where the hotels are integrated into venue,” he concluded.
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