CAPE TOWN – Cricket SA acting chief executive Jacques Faul believes the postponement of this year’s ICC T20 World Cup will allow the Proteas the best possible means to prepare for the global event.
After months of deliberation the International Cricket Council announced on Monday that the T20 World Cup due to take place in Australia from 18 October has been rescheduled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Officials said they now hoped to stage the tournament from October to November 2021, with the final scheduled for November 14 2021.
“These decisions provide just the clarity we need to not only revise our Future Tours Programme (FTP), but to also ensure the Proteas Men’s and Momentum Women’s Proteas teams have the best possible preparation for these important tournaments,” Faul said in a CSA statement.
The Proteas Men’s team have not been in action since the third ODI against Australia in Potchefstroom at the beginning of March after being forced to return home from their subsequent tour to India when the corona virus brought a screeching halt to international cricket.
Since then the Proteas’ tour of Sri Lanka scheduled for last month has been postponed. The June series was due to feature three ODIs and threeT20Is, but was deferred due to Covid-19.
BREAKING: The 2020 @T20WorldCup has been postponed.
DETAILS 👇 https://t.co/O8pZAjwf9R pic.twitter.com/ZGF5pKxS7n
— ICC (@ICC) July 20, 2020
The likelihood of the Proteas’ tour to the West Indies, which was originally scheduled for the end of July, also now seems highly unlikely.
The Windies are currently engaged in a three-Test Wisden Trophy series against England with the third Test of that series starting on July 24 in Manchester‚ which would have been the second day of the first Test between the Proteas and the hosts in Trinidad and Tobago.
A select of group of only 24 South African players returned to action for the first time last Saturday when they participated in a unique 3TC event at SuperSport Park after cricket, as a non-contact sport‚ was granted a return to play and a training dispensation by the Department of Sport‚ Arts & Culture under the Level 3 lockdown regulations.
Despite the expected postponements which will most likely include a potentially lucrative incoming Indian tour in August, Faul remains optimistic.
“A number of series for both our Proteas Men and Momentum Women have to be postponed because of Covid-19, but I would like to assure all our stakeholders that we are planning for an exciting future both at international and domestic level,” he said.
Furthermore, the ICC CC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 will be held October – November 2022 with the final on 13 November, while the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will be held in India October – November 2023 with the final on 26 November 2023.