Cricket Australia accepts the decision of the International Cricket Council to postpone the Men’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.
The ICC reached the decision on Monday evening in response to the challenges presented by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia was due to host the Men’s T20 World Cup this year, however that tournament will now be postponed with a new date to be announced in due course.
Australia and India remain hosts of the next two events, but which country hosts which year is still to be determined in order to allow the ICC to continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and increase the chance of staging two successful T20 World Cups.
Nick Hockley, the interim chief executive of Cricket Australia and chief executive of the ICC T20 World Cup 2020, expressed confidence that Australia would host an outstanding tournament when a revised date is set.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting sporting tournaments across the globe and cricket is not immune,” Hockley said. “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.
“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 groundbreaking moment in Australian sport, and I have no doubt the men’s edition will also be a spectacular event.
“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.
“Cricket Australia now looks forward to hosting a safe and successful summer of bi-lateral cricket.”
