The coronavirus epidemic has sabotaged the international calendar of various sporting events (international and major domestic events) all across the world. As far as cricket is concerned, all the cricket bodies will surely have a tough time in rescheduling the cancelled series when the action kicks off.
The cash-rich Indian Premier League was initially scheduled to go all guns blazing on March 29. India’s governing body, Board of Control for Cricket in India had recently suspended the Indian Premier League (IPL) for an indefinite period after Indian Prime Minister extended the nationwide lockdown to May 3.
BCCI also called off the ODI series against South Africa last month. Likewise, the other nations, namely Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, England and other countries, have also called off their series.
BCCI and other member boards ask ICC to call off Test championship, ODI league
With coronavirus bringing the whole world to a standstill and with no clarity when the situation is restored to normal, top member boards – BCCI, England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) wrote to ICC asking to call off the Test Championship Cycle and the proposed ODI league.
Besides, the boards led by ECB have conveyed to the ICC that the Future Tours Program (FTP) draft needs to be revisited. As per Times of India, these communications happened between the ICC and the member boards more than two weeks ago, ICC held its March board meeting through a teleconference.
Sports stadiums are being used as quarantine centres:
“This is an ongoing discussion right now. There’s absolutely no leadership coming out of the ICC whatsoever,” a leading administrator told the news outlet.
While the board members are pretty much concerned over bilateral series, the ICC is figuring out ways to propose and schedule more official tournaments. The ICC also wants to host a flagship tournament each year in the next rights cycle. It is to be learnt that the leading members already expressed their reservation over the same, and their opposition is only going to increase now due to massive losses they have incurred due to the pandemic.
The report further went on to add saying that ICC is busy exploring all options to make sure that the present Test champions cycle can be finished in the wake of the fast-spreading virus infection. Meanwhile, the ODI league was originally scheduled to start in May this year and conclude before the 2023 ODI ICC World Cup.