Given the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, sports fans have become used to the postponing of events.
But when it comes to cricket, recent decisions do not make sense.
Last week, the ICC made a number of key announcements about upcoming tournaments.
Firstly, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 (that was due to commence in two months’ time in Sydney) will be further postponed and held in Australia in 2022.
Members of the Local Organising Committee, while disappointed, are hopeful that with appropriate lead time, this will allow them to stage the tournament in front of full stadiums.
A decision was also made to postpone the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 (which was due to be held in New Zealand) until March 2022.
Given the nature of the pandemic, you can understand why these decisions have been made.
What I can’t then understand though is the decision for India to host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2021.
Why has the ICC made the decision to postpone the first two tournaments? Is it because of the pandemic? If so, then I find it baffling that a decision would be made to play a tournament in India, a country where case numbers are continuing on an upward trajectory and which has over 600,000 active cases as at Tuesday morning.
So far, India has had over 2.2 million cases and over 44,499 deaths.
Does this sound like a place where a major cricket tournament should be held? From a health and safety perspective, I simply do not see how India will be in a position to host this tournament.
(Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
And if the ICC is comfortable with holding a tournament in India, then why postpone the Women’s World Cup?
This week, New Zealand has marked 100 days of no community spread of COVID-19. So in terms of a place to host a major tournament, I could think of none safer than New Zealand right now, particularly if the teams travelling for the tournament were to follow strict quarantining both before and after the tournament.
It would be financially costly and take some strategic thinking, but the women’s game is worth it.
The decision feels like a missed opportunity for the ICC particularly after what we saw in March this year when over 86,000 people gathered at the MCG for the Final of the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup between Australia and India.
Records tumbled that day – it was a new national record for women’s sport with the 86,174 in attendance significantly higher than the previous record of 53,034 at the 2019 AFLW grand final between the Adelaide Crows and Carlton at the Adelaide Oval.
It was also the largest crowd for a women’s cricket match, surpassing the 1997 ICC One Day World Cup Final in India which had around 80,000 spectators.
The time for investment in the women’s game is now, because there is nothing but upside. Additionally, this investment needs to be a push from the global cricketing community, because the women’s game will thrive when we all work together.
There will be some that say that the reason for the postponement is because there is a lack of women’s cricket leading into the tournament so teams will not be ready.
Could the same argument not be made for the men’s event scheduled for 2021?
Megan Schutt bowls. (Photo by Will Russell-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
Additionally, at this stage, many cricketers will have the chance to compete in the WBBL which is scheduled to take place in October and November in Australia.
As we know, many of the world’s best internationals will travel down under for this tournament and additionally, you would expect plenty of Indian women to also have the chance to play some cricket with the announcement of the Women’s IPL exhibition games last week (strangely to be held at the same time as the WBBL).
I truly hope that this is a decision that has been made for the right reasons and not simply made as an excuse to put women’s cricket on hold for another 12 months.
Given the momentum in the women’s game at the moment, this would be valuable time lost and for some players nearing the end of their career, they may miss their last chance to compete in a Women’s World Cup.
Or perhaps this is simply a conspiracy by the England Women’s Cricket Team who want to hold on to their World Champion status for one year longer (comment made with tongue firmly in cheek).
Spanner
Roar Rookie
Keep having a go Mary - but you can lead a horse to water ......
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
You are right, if the New Zealand Authorities are ready the Women's World Cup should have been held there in 2021 itself. If the Pandemic continue to grow like this and the vaccines are not ready by early next Year, the Men's World Cup, 2021 in India will also be postponed.
Nick
Roar Guru
Notwithstanding the fact that NZ is now going through a second wave, I think it was cancelled because NZ doesn't seem to have any inclination whatsoever to open the borders or lift mandatory quarantine until mid-2021 at the absolute earliest. My expectation is that the ICC likely heard such advice provided to them from NZ. I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm not returning to NZ until at least Easter and only if I'm extremely lucky. Even if you wanted to run the tournament, the NZ government isn't going to let you.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Well, I’ve got to be informed. You can’t have an opinion without at least knowing the issues. FWIW, I also have the same interest level in ODIs and 20/20; male or female. —- Your article was more interesting than the subject.
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
Interested enough to click on the article though which I find fascinating.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Not her, I have standards.
Skidmarx
Guest
A bit of free Katy Perry in a short skirt would get ya through the gates .
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
It's not being held because I'm not interested.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
1 is a tournament run by, and a decision taken by the ICC. The other is a tournament run by, and a decision taken by the BCCI. 1 tournament will have spectators travelling from around the world. The other will have a handful of locals (including ex pat locals) attending. They are managed and operated differently and have a different appeal!
Paul
Roar Guru
If the ICC doesn't bow to the wishes of the BCCI, why is the October IPL going ahead in the UAE which doesn't have the pandemic under control, yet the Womans WC can't go ahead in 2021 in a country with zero covid cases? Similar sorts of events, yet totally different rules seem t apply.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
Hmmmmm! Whilst I agree that the ICC bows to the wishes of the BCCI on almost every issue I am not sure that you can point the finger on this occasion. Isn't the 2021 World Cup in India scheduled for October / November? That is over 1 year away and things may change before then. Plenty of time to still cancel that event, but now would be the time to ensure appropriate planning is in place in the possible event that the tournament goes ahead. March in NZ on the other hand is a lot riskier as it is just a little over 6 months away. The fact that NZ is Covid free is good for them, but the rest of the world (players, officials and spectators) needs to travel into NZ to watch and their borders are currently closed. They have been talking about travel bubbles for months now with the Cooke Islands a possibility (don't think they are playing good enough cricket to participate yet though :stoked: ). With the relatively high infection rates around the world (including amongst the cricket playing nations) I doubt NZ will be in a rush to ease the necessary restructions ( :laughing:). The time for planning that event is running short. I am sure NZ will be looked after ... eventually ... when the time is right. The real issue for Australia is the scheduling and timing of the IPL (and the women's IPL Exhibition Games). All Australians should be withdrawn forthwith!
Paul
Roar Guru
"It would be financially costly and take some strategic thinking, but the women’s game is worth it." I think the first part of this sentence is exactly why the women WC has been postponed Mary. Conspiracy theories aside ( though the one you mentioned in your last paragraph is a beauty), the ICC is only thinking about the money and isn't prepared to think about the strategic advantages of playing a top class woman's tournament, simply because they likely believe they won't make a decent quid from it. The IPL is still going ahead this year, but in the UAE, which has had in excess of 62,700 cases and over 350 deaths. That makes less sense to me than staging the men's WC in India next year, because that tournament can be postponed. By agreeing to the IPL going ahead and the womens WC not happening this year, the ICC has shown it's hand in 3 ways. They are all abut making money at the expense of the women's game, they kowtow to India and they care little about cricketing minnows like New Zealand, who don't have the clout to insist the womens tournament goes ahead.