Cricket Australia Not Looking Forward to Hosting 2020 T20 World Cup, Request Rights for 2021 Edition

Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings has requested the ICC’s Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee to consider allowing them to host the 2021 T20 World Cup instead of 2020, according to a report in the Times of India.

The ICC are currently in a tussle with tax regulations in India regarding the 2021 T20 World Cup and are also set to decide on the postponement of the 2020 edition due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The ICC on Wednesday though said that reports of the postponement were inaccurate, a stance that was questioned by members given Australia’s latest admission. The report also states that the letter from the CA to ICC was sent more than a week ago.

Cricket Australia, who cited financial reasons behind their request, has specifically asked to host the 2021 T20 World Cup and not 2022.

The F&CA is headed by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani and also includes Eddings among others. BCCI, however, isn’t part of the committee.

Eddings wrote “.. it would be detrimental for cricket if the cancellation of the “Australian event” (T20 World Cup) is replaced by award of the subsequent T20 World Cup in October/November 2022″.

“Australia has thankfully managed to ‘flatten the (Covid) curve’, meaning there is greater certainty of being able to play in Australia in 2021 (which is key to maintaining member distributions). This would give India another year to resolve any Covid-related problems,” he wrote.

CA says they had invested heavily in the women’s T20 WC earlier this year “to make it the success it was” and isn’t sure if it will continue to receive support from the government in light of the financial turmoil due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The report also adds that from the BCCI’s perspective, they would be fine with a change in plans as long as the IPL and bilateral series’ are honoured.