'Some positivity': Richardson hopeful of seeing T20 World Cup in 2020, craves for cricket

Australia pacer Kane Richardson backed ICC's decision to defer taking a call on the T20 World Cup to next month, as he remained hopeful of playing the showpiece tournament in 2020 itself. The International Cricket Council (ICC) deferred its decision on the future of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 and the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 until July on Thursday. Kane Richardson said that decisions on matters as such shouldn't be rushed as he remained optimistic about seeing cricket return soon after a hiatus of over three months due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

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'No rush to make a decision'

"It's always nice to know what's going to happen in the near future but taking as much time as we can to make a decision about this is important. There no rush to make a decision," Richardson was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

"I think it's the right move, I think Australia and New Zealand have been really good in terms of flattening the curve, so I think there's some positivity there in terms of some cricket being on this summer with some kind of normality around it.

"The best decision is to take your time with this and make sure we've made the right decision," he added.

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Fate Of T20 World Cup Hangs In Balance

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ICC Board expressed its desire to continue its evaluation of the rapidly changing public health situation caused by COVID-19 with stakeholders such as governments. The contingency planning process shall evaluate health and safety among other considerations to ensure that a decision is taken in the best interests of the sport.ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney stressed that the health and well-being of everyone was the top priority at this juncture. He exuded confidence in the ICC taking a well-informed decision after holding consultations with member nations, players, broadcasters, partners, and governments. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 is scheduled to take place in Australia in October-November 2020. In the meeting, the issue of tax exemptions required for ICC events also came under consideration and the ICC Board agreed to extend the deadline given to the BCCI to December 2020 for providing a tax solution.

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(With agency inputs)