The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia has been postponed.
The tournament was due to be held in October and November but will now take place a year later due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
An ICC board meeting confirmed the new dates as well as changes to the next two tournaments to follow.
The T20 World Cup in Australia will now be held in October and November 2021. The following T20 World Cup in India will take place in the same months in 2022.
Meanwhile, the Cricket World Cup in 2023, also due to be held in India, will be pushed back to October and November to allow further qualifying time.
Postponement made after “careful consideration”
ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said: “We have undertaken a comprehensive and complex contingency planning exercise and through this process, our number one priority has been to protect the health and safety of everyone involved in the sport.”
“The decision to postpone the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was taken after careful consideration of all of the options available to us and gives us the best possible opportunity of delivering two safe and successful T20 World Cups for fans around the world.
“Our members now have the clarity they need around event windows to enable them to reschedule lost bilateral and domestic cricket. Moving the Men’s Cricket World Cup to a later window is a critical element of this and gives us a better chance of maintaining the integrity of the qualification process. This additional time will be used to reschedule games that might be lost because of the pandemic ensuring qualification can be decided on the field of play.
“Throughout this process we have worked closely with our key stakeholders to reach a collective decision for the good of the game and our fans. I would like to thank everyone involved for their commitment to a safe return to cricket.”
Could the IPL step in?
The postponement of the 2020 T20 World Cup does hand a window of opportunity to the Indian Premier League.
This year's tournament had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak but could now use the free fixture window to stage the popular event in October and November this year instead.
