The International Cricket Council (ICC) is scheduled to meet on May 28 via teleconference and, chief among the items on its agenda, will be the T20 World Cup.
Scheduled for October 18 to November 15 in Australia, the ICC T20 World Cup is one of the most lucrative events on the ICC calendar and since there has been no major cricket competition this year such as the IPL, the upcoming World Cup takes on added importance.
One of the issues the ICC board, which consists heads of member territories, will tackle will be whether to go ahead with the T20 showpiece event, reschedule it or pull the plug on the tournament altogether.
It is thought that most of the territories will be hoping the ICC could pull off the staging of the tournament since most boards have been affected financially by the coronavirus pandemic which has virtually brought all cricket it its knees.
Simply put, no World Cup will mean no revenue sharing from the ICC and territories such as the West Indies, whose president Ricky Skerrit has already described is financial situation as “ICU”, will be hoping that it does come off so as to revive its ailing financial situation.
CWI, according to reports derives 40 per cent of their total revenue from the ICC with another 40 per cent of their revenue coming from television mainly from the Indian and United Kingdom markets.
Should the T20 World Cup not be played CWI stands to lose their share of the revenue which the ICC would have gotten from rights holder Star India.
One expects that the ICC will postpone the decision on the staging of the event for as long as it possibly can even as it looks to see whether the bilateral tours between England and the West Indies and England and Pakistan can take place.
But unless there is a dramatic breakthrough in the current situation it will be difficult to see how the T20 World Cup can take place even though there has been a burst of optimism from Cricket Australia.
According to CA’s Chief Executive Kevin Roberts, earlier this year, “Cricket Australia is working closely with the ICC, the Local Organising Committee and the Australian government so we have a comprehensive understanding of exactly what it will take to be able to play the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 in October in Australia as planned…We are also jointly exploring all other options in relation to staging the event and will take the right decisions at the right time so we can host a wonderful celebration of the sport and keep everyone involved safe and well.”
One of the options being mooted is the staging of matches at bio centric venues.
This proposal, a sort of a litmus test, is being looked at for the bilateral tours between England and the West Indies and Pakistan if those tours do take place but housing the 16 World Cup teams will be an altogether different kettle of fish.
Additionally, the players will have to be quarantined on arrival and there is no telling what would be the impact, what might happen should there be a positive test or two among the world’s superstar cricketers.
The ICC big wigs will also have to debate the issue of the `empty galleries’ whether the World Cup, if it does go ahead should be played to empty stadiums, bereft of crowds.
Whatever might be the issues affecting the staging of the World Cup, Covid-19 is the biggest obstacle and in the end, the decision just might hinge on the financial health of the cricket nations against the physical health and overall safety of the players.
