This year's Twenty20 World Cup, which was scheduled to begin in Australia on October 18, has been postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sport's governing International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Monday.
"At today's meeting ... windows for the next three ICC men’s events were also agreed to bring clarity to the calendar and give the sport the best possible opportunity," the ICC said in a statement after a meeting of its commercial subsidiary IBC.
Accordingly, there will be back-to-back men's T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022 before the 50-overs World Cup in India in 2023.
"The decision ... 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," ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney said.
"Our Members now have the clarity they need around event windows to enable them to reschedule lost bilateral and domestic cricket," he said.
The ICC would also continue to evaluate the situation ahead of the women’s World Cup 2021 in New Zealand, it added.
Key decisions taken at the ICC Board Meeting:
2023 ODI World Cup pushed to October-November
The ICC men's ODI World Cup in India will now be held OctoberNovember 2023 (final on 26th) to allow a longer qualification period to all teams.
Normally the World Cups in India are held between February and March as it happened in 1996 and 2011 but way back in 1987 (Reliance World Cup), it was held during the festive season.
CEO Sawhney said: "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."
The decision, he said, was taken in consultation with all the stakeholders.
"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."
Women's 2021 ODI World Cup in New Zealand
The IBC Board will also continue to evaluate the situation with regards the 2021 women's World Cup in New Zealand in February. In the meantime, planning for this event continues as scheduled.
No decision on nomination process
The ICC didn't announce the nomination process for its next independent chairman to replace Shashank Manohar as it has been learnt that members are yet to reach unanimity regarding their choice for the next head of the global body.
