While the ICC announcement of the postponement of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup has extended the wait for some teams to get off the couch, there are others cheering from the gallery because it has cleared the decks as it were.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), for one, has not wasted time though it would appreciate the official statement in making arrangements for the rescheduling of the Indian Premier League after it was pushed in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent countrywide shutdowns.
Cricket Australia joins the BCCI in the hullabaloo though it had been in the know-how for some time that the tournament was a no show since it was adamant it was not viable to host it, not just because of the pandemic because also because it was eyeing a bigger steak in the India tour scheduled thereafter.
It might seem surprising to have a cricket board like Cricket South Africa welcome the decision with regard to the clarity. The BCCI recently called off an informal short tour of South Africa and South Africa and Sri Lanka have had their series being called off. These might be one of the few cricket playing nations that might have to go out with its shopping cart.
The CSA stated as much that it would now look at a revised Future Tours Programme schedule. The question is while everyone is willing to play host to India given the kind of revenue that could fall into the coffers, how many of the teams are willing to play each other as the West Indies and Pakistan are currently doing with England to regenerate cricket interest in their region, not to mention much-needed revenue? Is the bottom-line alone, and not just feasibility of playing in a virus-free venue, going to dictate the itinerary even between the less powerful cricket boards?
This is likely to make life harder for many teams on the fringes and the many associate member nations, given that they will not have a world-level spectacle to make the case once more this year.