Talk of postponing cup premature: White

THE Women’s Cricket World Cup may end up being played at a later date.

But any talk of postponing the ICC tournament is premature, New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White said.

The World Cup is scheduled to be staged in New Zealand early next year. Four of the roundrobin games have been allocated to Dunedin.

But with the world battling the Covid19 pandemic and New Zealand’s borders closed for now, there is speculation the tournament could be postponed.

“We’ve got to remember it’s April,’’ White responded when questioned about the event during a video conference yesterday.

‘‘We have a call [last night] with CEOs of World Cricket and

I’m sure World Cups will be discussed.

‘‘Of course there’s contingency planning going on but no decisions will be made.

“I imagine that when a decision is made, that will be in July.

“Postponement has certainly not been discussed at all.

“The Women’s World Cup is so important for New Zealand Cricket to relaunch women’s cricket in our country. It’s about building the profile of our players and the game here.”

However, he also stressed it was important to remain ‘‘openminded in our planning and flexible, and we’ve got to work together to make sure we’ve got compelling content and that we can accommodate all of these events’’.

A spokesman for the ICC said the first ‘‘responsibility is to protect the wellbeing of players, coaches, officials, fans and the whole cricket community and we will take a safetyfirst approach to all operations over the coming months’’.

‘‘We are continuing with our planning for ICC events as they are. But given the rapidly evolving situation, as a prudent and responsible measure, we are also undertaking a comprehensive business contingency planning exercise. This includes exploring all options available to us based on a range of scenarios connected to the pandemic.

‘‘We will continue to take advice from experts and authorities, including the relevant governments and will take decisions at the appropriate time.’’

There has been speculation the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, planned for Australia from October 18 to November 15, could be shifted to early next year which would mean it would clash with the Women’s World Cup.

The other unknown is whether the lucrative Indian Premier League will go ahead. It had been scheduled to start on March 29 but was suspended until further notice.

If it goes ahead, it will put further pressure on the rest of the cricketing calendar and could have an impact on when ICC events are staged.

Yesterday marked the beginning of a new partnership between New Zealand Cricket and Spark Sport.

Spark Sport is the new home for all NZC fixtures on home soil. It announced the new broadcasting rights deal in October last year.