T20 World Cup schedule under 'very high risk', admits Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts

Cricket Australia chief Kevin Roberts has said that the chances of T20 World Cup being played in October-November was under “very high risk” due to COVID-19 pandemic while adding in case the showpiece event gets postponed, there are potential windows in February-March or October-November, 2021.

“Obviously, we’ve been hopeful all along that it could be staged in October-November but you would have to say there is a very high risk about the prospect of that happening,” Roberts told reporters in a video call on Friday.

“In the event that doesn’t happen, there are potential windows in the February-March period, October-November the following year.

“And there are implications here for the ICC over a number of years. So there’s a lot of complexity for the ICC to deal with.”

On Thursday, in the all-important ICC Board meeting, the global cricket body deferred decisions over T20 World Cup until its next meet on June 10. The BCCI is also keeping a close eye on the development as it is set to host the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup and a postponement of the marquee event this year could open a window for IPL 2020.

However, given that Cricket Australia on Thursday announced their home schedule for 2020-21 season, IPL 2020 in October-November could impact Aussies’ T20 series against West Indies (Oct 4-9) and India (Oct 11-17). “The question of the IPL will be addressed when a decision is made around the T20 World Cup, that’s the key influencing factor there,” he said.