THE England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have revealed Australia and New Zealand have emerged as contenders to host matches to help England complete its season.
The ECB on Friday last extended the delay to the start of its season until July 1 at the earliest, with Australia’s white-ball tour that includes three T20s and three ODIs originally scheduled to start on July 4.

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said Friday the board had received “multiple offers” from other countries to help them complete the domestic season.
His comments came after Surrey chairman Richard Thompson earlier said Abu Dhabi had offered to host matches for the ECB.

“We’ve had offers as far away as Australia and New Zealand,” said Harrison. “Those offers are on the table.
“I haven’t had anything from Abu Dhabi, but that’s not to say the offer hasn’t been made.”

It’s unclear what offer from Australia was made to the ECB, following Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts joining Harrison and 10 other chief executives on an ICC conference call to discuss responses to the COVID-19 pandemic last week.

The CEOs discussed contingency planning for both the men’s T20 World Cup, as well as the women’s 50-over World Cup in New Zealand next year, with planning for both tournament’s continuing as scheduled for now.

CA’s focus remains on ensuring this summer’s four-Test Border-Gavaskar series goes ahead, as well as the T20 World Cup that is scheduled to be played in October and November, as well as the WBBL and BBL domestic T20 tournaments.
A ‘biosecurity’ option – where an international team could serve a quarantine, such at the Adelaide Oval’s under-construction 138-bed hotel in the eastern grandstand – is among the plans being considered.

Roberts has indicated a decision on the T20 World Cup may not be made until August. The tournament requires 15 teams to fly in and play matches at seven venues around the nation between October 18 and November 15.

And while Harrison said the ECB was still aiming to stage a full home 2020 international season, he warned: “We’re probably getting to the point now where any further delays beyond where we’ve already started planning for will involve losing cricket rather than rescheduling again.”

England’s international season was due to start with three Tests against the West Indies from June 4, and the Caribbean authorities said they were “flexible” about rearranging the tour but would not risk their players’ health just to complete a three-Test series.

English officials remain hopeful they can reschedule all international fixtures in a programme that also includes three more Tests against Pakistan and white-ball matches against Australia and Ireland, from July until September.
It had earlier been reported in the UK media that Australia’s white-ball fixtures may be moved to September.

CWI chief executive Johnny Grave insisted while the West Indies were open to a change of dates, player safety remained the priority.
“Clearly playing in June is now not possible and we will continue our discussions with the ECB and other international boards on trying to find new dates,” said Grave in a statement from the governing body.

“Our respective medical teams are beginning to discuss how this (England) series could be played whilst guaranteeing the health and safety of our players and support team.
“We will be as flexible as we can without compromising the safety of our team,” Grave, himself an Englishman, added.

Even if the two boards find mutually acceptable dates, Britain’s lockdown restrictions would have to ease for the series to take place in England and even rules banning mass gatherings would likely still be in force, meaning matches would have to take place behind closed doors.

(Cricket Network)