DUBAI: Planning for this year’s men’s Twenty20 World Cup and next year’s women’s 50-over World Cup is going ahead even though cricket remains suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Thursday.

The ICC hosted a Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) meeting with the CEOs of the 12 full members and three associate representatives to discuss the challenges boards will face in the coming months in their respective countries.

Global cricket is at a standstill as a result of the coronavirus, with stark warnings issued over the damaging economic fallout.

Thursday’s meeting received updates on contingency planning for all ICC global events, including the T20 World Cup, due to start in October, and next year’s women’s Cricket World Cup.

The men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played in Australia from Oct 18 to Nov 15 while the women’s World Cup in 2021 is sche­duled for Feb 6 to March 7 in New Zealand.

“The CEC was updated on the continuing contingency planning for all ICC global events, including the men’s T20 World Cup 2020 and the women’s World Cup 2021. Planning for both events as currently scheduled is ongoing,” the ICC said in a statement after the conference call.

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts said his organisation was working closely with the ICC, the Australian government and local organisers to gain a ‘comprehensive understanding’ of what it would take to host the T20 World Cup as planned.

“We are also jointly exploring all other options in relation to staging the event and will take the right decisions at the right time so we can host a wonderful celebration of the sport and keep everyone involved safe and well,” he added.

ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney appreciated the support of member countries at a critical time.“I am grateful to my fellow CEOs for their clear commitment to a unified approach to steering cricket through this pandemic. We will work in partnership for the best outcomes for the sport in relation to both ICC events and bilateral cricket.

“We agreed on the importance of taking well informed, responsible decisions in relation to the resumption of international cricket. The complexities involved in being able to stage ICC global events are extensive to ensure we protect the health and safety of everyone involved and they will be carefully considered before any decisions are arrived at in the best interests of the game.” Chief executive of Pakistan Cricket Board Wasim Khan termed Thursday’s meeting as the initial phase in a ‘long-term’ process.

“Today’s meeting was the first step in a longer-term process that will enable us to take a joined up approach to decision making as we shape our response to this pandemic to get cricket back on an even keel,” Wasim remarked. “There has never been a more important time for our global cricket community to be unified and there was a clear commitment from colleagues on today’s call to work in the collective best interest of our sport.”

ICC medical committee chairman Peter Harcourt said the next step for cricket chiefs was to create a ‘roadmap’ for the resumption of the international game.

“This will consider everything from player preparation to government restrictions and advisories and bio-bubbles,” he said. “The scale and complexity of getting cricket started again cannot be underestimated, particularly with respect to a global event. The more teams, venues and cities involved in an event, the greater the risk which has to be assessed and managed.”

The outbreak of the virus has also placed a huge question mark over whether next year’s inaugural World Test Championship final at Lord’s can take place as scheduled should teams be unable to play all their qualifying matches.

The CEC also agreed that the Future Tour Programme would need to be reviewed till 2023 after a number of bilateral series were postponed due to the pandemic.

The ICC, in the meantime, added on Thursday that discussions about the Championship’s future would be held at a later date “when there is a greater understanding of the impact of the cricket that has been lost”.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2020