The ICC should opt to stage the World T20 only once social-distancing regulations have been lifted, writes Craig Stirton.
COVID-19 has had the sporting world in a vice-like grip for what seems like an eternity but in reality, it is just a few weeks. No sport has been immune to the scheduling headache governing bodies have been faced with.
Many of the blueprints for the way forward, once sports begin to reboot, are characterised by spectator-less events.
It has long since been suggested that interest in cricket is on the wane. Yet the shortest format of the game still manages to pique the interest of the casual fan owing to its helter-skelter and entertaining nature.
The Big Bash is proof enough that the 20-over game remains imensely popular among the Australian public. Night after night, in every stadium across the nation, players play before capacity crowds.
A friend of mine who took in a couple of games at last year’s edition remarked that the atmosphere was unlike anything he’d ever experienced in South Africa – fun for the whole family.
Australia too has some of the largest venues in the world with the MCG boasting 101,024 seats and the new Perth stadium able to host 60 000 fans.
Not only would closed-door policies at the event wreck the atmosphere at the grounds, but Cricket Australia’s coffers would also be adversely affected too and in light of the economic havoc being wreaked by COVID at present, I highly doubt they’d be keen on a spectator-less event.
In my opinion, there’s no reason why the event can’t be held next year once social-distancing laws have been relaxed and life returns to some semblance of normalcy. It would make for a quality event and one which will hopefully draw some new eyeballs to the TV screen and stadia alike.
After all, what’s another year when one considers the first few weeks of lockdown have seemed like a lifetime!
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