Australia hopeful of hosting T20 World Cup as scheduled

The competition is set to begin with a pre-qualifying competition in Geelong and Hobart on October 18, with the tournament’s group stage commencing a week later in Sydney as the hosts face Pakistan

Cricket Australia is planning for the men’s T20 World Cup to go ahead as scheduled in October and November in spite of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The competition is set to begin with a pre-qualifying competition on October 18, with the tournament’s group stage commencing a week later in Sydney as the hosts face Pakistan.

The national governing body on Wednesday cancelled the remainder of the Sheffield Shield season, handing New South Wales the title, while also “strongly recommending” that all amateur cricket is halted.

Nevertheless, chief executive Kevin Roberts remains hopeful of hosting the T20 showpiece as planned.

“We're really hoping that all forms of sport can be played again in a few weeks or a few months' time,” he told reporters.

“None of us are experts in this situation obviously, so our hope is that we're back in very much normal circumstances come October and November when the men's T20 World Cup is to be played.

“And at this stage we're planning on November 15 (the scheduled final date), to have a full house at the MCG to inspire the world through men's cricket as the women's cricketers did here just last week.”

^{86,174 people attended the Women's T20 World Cup final}

Australia are due to face England in an ODI series in July, though Roberts stated that no call had yet been made on whether those games would go ahead, though their viability – at this stage – would seem unlikely.

“All I'd say on those is we hope they go ahead, because if they go ahead it means the Australian community and the worldwide community are in better shape than we are just now in relation to coronavirus,” he said.

“We're focused on the crisis that's facing the country and the world right now. That's far bigger than any scheduling discussions in cricket, and as much as we need to keep working on those decisions, we're also not going to bring them forward.

Looking ahead to this COVID-19 summer takes me back to my garden cricket days

“We're in uncertain times and it's difficult to project what will transpire over the next couple of months.

“But we will be working though the advice from experts externally as to what are the various scenarios that are plausible, how likely are they, and how do we plan to deal with each of them.

“We're moving now from management of the onset of coronavirus as a critical incident, to how do we guarantee the continuity of our business and our organisation beyond that.”