Postponement of T20 World Cup 2020 will provide clarity, says CSA

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has welcomed the decision of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to postpone the T20 World Cup 2020, saying that it will provide clarity to the board to revise their Future Tours Programme (FTP).

The ICC on Monday had postponed the T20 World Cup 2020 slated to be played in Australia in October-November due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, the next two editions of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup will take place in the October-November window in 2021 and 2022 respectively, while the 2023 ICC Men's World Cup will take place in October-November 2023.

The 2021 ICC Women's World Cup remains in New Zealand in February 2021 as originally scheduled.

"These decisions provide just the clarity we need not only to revise our own Future Tours Programme but to see that our Proteas Men and Momentum Proteas Women have the best possible preparation for in these important tournaments," CSA Acting Chief Executive Dr. Jacques Faul said in an official statement.

"A number of series for both our Proteas Men and Women have had to be postponed because of the coronavirus and I would like to assure all our stakeholders that we are planning for an exciting future both at the international and domestic level," he added.

The T20 World Cup was slated to be played in Australia from October 18 to November 15 this year.

ICC said that at Monday's meeting of the IBC Board (the commercial subsidiary of the ICC), windows for the next three ICC men's events were also agreed to bring clarity to the calendar and give the sport the "best possible opportunity" over the next three years to recover from the disruption caused by COVID-19.

The windows for the Men's events are:

ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 will be held -- October - November 2021 with the final on 14 November 2021;ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 will be held -- October - November 2022 with the final on 13 November 2022;ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 will be held in India -- October - November 2023 with the final on 26 November 2023.

"The IBC Board agreed to continue to monitor the rapidly changing situation and assess all the information available in order to make a considered decision on future hosts to ensure the sport is able to stage safe and successful global events in 2021 and 2022," ICC said in a statement.

( With inputs from ANI )