CA may lobby for semi-final reserve days for T20 World Cup

The women’s World Cup, won by Australia at the MCG earlier this month, was thrown into chaos when heavy rain here forced the abandonment of the first scheduled semi-final between India and England.

As the ICC’s current playing conditions stand, the men’s T20 World Cup – still scheduled for Australia during October-November this year despite current global uncertainty – also features semi-finals in Sydney (November 11) and Adelaide (November 12) with no reserve days available before the final at the MCG on November 15.

An ICC spokesperson confirmed the playing conditions for the men’s T20 World Cup – which starts with a pre-qualifying tournament on October 18 – are not expected to differ from those under which the women’s event was played. However, the spokesperson added the organisation’s Cricket Committee is scheduled to meet in the middle of this year where playing conditions will be discussed before they are formally signed-off by the ICC’s Chief Executives Committee (CEC) later in the year.

CA Chief Executive Kevin Roberts, who will be part of that CEC meeting, noted a case existed for the inclusion of reserve days in the upcoming men’s event but also conceded there was a valid argument to maintain the playing conditions that governed the preceding women’s tournament.

“There’s always cause for reflection at the end of any tournament or any season, in terms of how you approach future tournaments,” Roberts said. “In saying that, there will be people who suggest there should be semi-final reserve days for the men’s. But I’m not sure how the English women’s team would feel about that, not having had a reserve day in their leg of the tournament.

“I would imagine the playing conditions are in place for the women’s and men’s events within this tournament (in 2020) and can be discussed and considered after that’s completed.”

Over the previous decades, the men’s and women’s iterations of the T20 World Cup have been held concurrently which meant both tournaments abided by the same playing conditions.