In a recent development, Australia’s Sports Minister Richard Colbeck believes that managing crowds will be the biggest hurdle in front of the T20 World Cup scheduled to be played in October-November in Australia.
Notably, all sporting action around the world has come to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic which is still not showing any signs of subsiding anytime soon.
“The issue for the World Cup is not so much the teams as the crowds and that’s probably one of the hurdles we really have to consider and probably one that world cricket will look at pretty closely as well,” ESPNCricinfo quoted Colbeck as saying on the radio station SEN.
“We all know the difference in atmosphere when you see a filled stadium versus one that’s empty… they will be some of the broader considerations, but in a team, since I’d like to think that we can build some protocols with the cooperation of the sport and the players, that’s going to be extremely important, with appropriate quarantine and biosecurity protocols to see if we can make the competition go ahead,” he added.
Earlier, the chief executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Manu Sawhney had stated that the elite body will be consulting the Australian government on going ahead with the Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
“In relation to ICC events, including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, we will continue to take advice from experts and authorities, including the Australian government. We will utilise all of the data and information available to us to ensure we can take responsible decisions around all competitions at an appropriate time that are in the best interests of our sport,” Sawhney had said in a statement.
Currently, no sporting action is happening and high-profile tournaments like the Olympics as well as the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) have been postponed.