Best cricket matches left in 2020

The game has continued to remain hugely popular and demand for matches to take place would have only been at an all-time high following the 2019 Cricket World Cup and the 2019 Ashes series between England and Australia

Cricket was just one of a number of sports that had to take a back seat for much of 2020 because of the global pandemic, however the sport has started to make its sweeping return over the last few months.

Whilst there are a number of matches, tours and tournaments to have remained postponed because of ongoing concerns surrounding the virus, the cricket world has not had to suffer a complete whitewash in regards to the action being played across the world.

The game has continued to remain hugely popular and demand for matches to take place would have only been at an all-time high following the 2019 Cricket World Cup and the 2019 Ashes series between England and Australia.

Indeed, whilst a full schedule would have certainly been nice, there are still a number of quality tour matches and competitions taking place across the remainder of the 2020 calendar, across both men and women’s versions of the game.

Men

Australia tour of England, 2020

Sep 04 - Sep 16

England appears to have remained the hub for international cricket this summer, as they have already had series take place against the West Indies and Pakistan, whilst they played limited-over games against Ireland as well.

They still have fixtures remaining on the schedule as well, as fierce rivals Australia will tour the country once again, although in just limited-overs format. The duo nations will compete in three T20Is and three ODIs as well. The T20Is will be played at the Rose Bowl, Southampton starting September 4. The ODIs will be played at Old Trafford, Manchester starting September 11.

India tour of Australia, 2020-21

Oct 11 - Jan 17

Australia will then host India the following month in a full-length tour that will see the two countries compete over the space of four months, with it starting in October and ending in January 2021.

Three T20Is have been scheduled to take place first, which will then be followed up by four Test matches between the two cricketing nations. These matches will also include the famous Boxing Day test match that is traditionally played Down Under.

Following the conclusion of the Test series, a further three ODIs have been penciled in across the country.

T20 Blast 2020

Aug 27 - Oct 03

Cricket in England may not be watched with spectators for now, however there are no signs of slowing the sport down. The T20 Blast will take center-stage between August and the beginning of October as the counties look to come out on top for one of the game’s biggest prizes.

Counties are split into three groups (North, South and Central) and will play a round-robin style league format, with the eight-best placed teams then featuring in a knockout tournament to crown the winner. Watching this particular tournament can be akin to being rewarded with a casino bonus, as its fast-paced action certainly gets the interest levels as high as physically possible.

Indian Premier League 2020

Sep 19 - Nov 10

The IPL (as it is more commonly known) has been scheduled to take place between September and November, although it could face some logistical problems due to the virus impact in India. There have been discussion as to whether they should change the format for the 2020 edition, with the 56 group matches (plus the additional knockout rounds) taken place in three central hubs.

Big Bash League 2020-21

Dec 03 - Feb 06

The Big Bash League is Australia’s premier T20 competition and it is usually scheduled to take place over the festive period - as it is their summer. Although it is too early at the moment to suggest what might happen, there has been no noise about the possibility of the tournament being postponed or cancelled.

Women

West Indies Women tour of England, 2020

Sep 21 - Sep 30

As like their male counterparts, the West Indies Women will come to England to play in a number of matches. The current schedule is penciled in to have five T20Is played every couple of days at the County Ground, Derby.

New Zealand Women tour of Australia, 2020

Sep 27 - Oct 10

Australia Women will take on New Zealand Women in a number of matches across two formats between September and October. The three T20Is to be played will be contested at the North Sydney Oval in Sydney, whereas the three following ODIs will be played at various venues across Australia.

Womens Big Bash League 2020

Oct 17 - Nov 29

The Women's Big Bash League 2020 is scheduled to take place in Australia between the months of October and November, therefore not conflicting with the Men’s tournament and giving both the best possible chance of being watched as much as possible.

56 group matches will be played, with two semi-finals and a final also taken place to determine the Women's Big Bash League 2020 winner on 29th November.