The World Test Championship schedule has been thrown haywire by the COVID-19 pandemic and its much-awaited final next year will depend on the number of rescheduled bilateral series after the disruption, ICC GM (Cricket Operations) Geoff Allardice said on Monday.
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the Futures Tours and Programme (FTP) into disarray with the T20 World Cup already postponed to give member nations time to complete their bilateral commitments.
“We are currently in discussion with members on what their plans are around rescheduling their series,” Allardice said during an interaction with news agencies.
Given the circumstances and tight schedules, ICC might have to postpone the June final at the Lord’s as Bangladesh, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England have backlog series but Allardice, a former Australian First Class cricketer, would like to wait a bit more.
“Obviously their teams have re-scheduled them (their engagements) as quickly as possible. Depending on how many of them (postponed series) could be re-scheduled within the available time will give us the most appropriate timing for the final. But at this stage the final is scheduled for June 2021,” he said.
ODI Super League
Meanwhile, the ICC on Monday launched the ODI Super League, a qualifier for the 2023 World Cup in India that aims to add context to the 50-over format.
Host India and the next top seven teams in the Super League will automatically qualify for the World Cup, the world body stated in a press release.
To begin on July 30
The competition begins with a series between world champions England and Ireland, beginning at Southampton on July 30.
The rest of the schedule will be unveiled later.