T20 World Cup in 2020 'unrealistic': Cricket Australia chairman

Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings thinks it will be a difficult task to get all 16 teams to Australia amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

File image of the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 trophy

Cricket Austraia (CA) chairman Earl Eddings poured cold water over the possibility of staging the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia later this year due to the COVID-19 pandmeic.

“While it hasn't been formally called off this year, or postponed, trying to get 16 countries into Australia in the current world, where most countries are still going through COVID spiking, I think it's unrealistic, or it's going to be very, very difficult,” Eddings told reporters.

The tournament is scheduled to take place from October 18 to November 15. The postponement of the marquee international tournament could pave the way for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to host the Indian Premier League (IPL) during that window.

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Eddings said CA had put forward a number of options to the International Cricket Council.

“The ICC are having meetings as we speak, it's a bit of a movable feast at the moment,” he said.

T20 World Cup chief executive Nick Hockley, who on Tuesday took over as interim Cricket Australia chief, said he expected the ICC to make a decision about the tournament's future next month.

“We've got a fantastic local organising committee who are busy preparing for every eventuality and the decision that will come,” he said.

The most likely scenario appears to be rescheduling the tournament until next year, but it will depend on the status of the pandemic and finding a spot in cricket's crowded calendar.