In a major development, the International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup, which was originally scheduled to take place from October 18 to November 15 in Australia, has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision has been announced following a meeting of the IBC Board–the commercial subsidiary of the ICC), the press release from the world’s cricket governing body stated. 

Meanwhile, the windows for the next three ICC men’s events were also agreed during the meeting in order 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 the novel virus. (Also Read: Ballon d’Or 2020 cancelled in wake of coronavirus pandemic)

The windows for the three major ICC men’s events are as follows:

• ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 will be held October – November 2021 with the final on November 14, 2021
• ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 will be held October – November 2022 with the final on November 13, 2022
• ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will be held in India October – November 2023 with the final on November 16, 2023

During the meeting, 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.

“The IBC Board will also continue to evaluate the situation in relation to being able to stage the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 in New Zealand in February next year. In the meantime, planning for this event continues as scheduled,” the ICC statement added.

Reflecting on the latest development, ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said that the decision to postpone the prestigious T20 tournament has been taken keeoing in mind the health and safety of everyone involved in the game.

“We have undertaken a comprehensive and complex contingency planning exercise and through this process, our number one priority has been to protect the health and safety of everyone involved in the sport.The decision to postpone the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was taken after careful consideration of all of the options available to us and gives us the best possible opportunity of delivering two safe and successful T20 World Cups for fans around the world,” Sawhney said.

“Our Members now have the clarity they need around event windows to enable them to reschedule lost bilateral and domestic cricket. Moving the Men’s Cricket World Cup to a later window is a critical element of this and gives us a better chance of maintaining the integrity of the qualification process. This additional time will be used to reschedule games that might be lost because of the pandemic ensuring qualification can be decided on the field of play,” he added.

“Throughout this process we have worked closely with our key stakeholders including governments, Members, broadcasters, partners and medical experts to enable us to reach a collective decision for the good of the game and our fans. I would like to thank everyone involved for their commitment to a safe return to cricket,” Sawhney concluded.

Meanwhile, the ICC also confirmed that those who have already purchase the tickets for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will be welcomed to retain their tickets.

“If Australia hosts in 2021, tickets will remain valid for fans who have already bought and will be automatically updated to reflect the new dates. If Australia hosts in 2022, for tickets already bought a full refund will be processed automatically,” the ICC added.