White not aware of cup delay

New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White is not expecting an imminent decision on the timing of the men’s T20 Cricket World despite reports Cricket Australia is planning for a postponement till next February and is considering a series with the Black Caps next summer.

A Twenty20 World Cup next February and a trans-Tasman series against New Zealand have emerged as genuine fallback options for Cricket Australia if the coronavirus pandemic wipes out the game’s marquee events next summer.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age confirmed the two scenarios are being strongly considered by cricket authorities as angst among player ranks grew over CA chief Kevin Roberts’ plan to ask cricketers to take pay cuts.

However, White said yesterday morning that he was not expecting decisions to be made on the World Cup tournaments during a conference call between world cricket chief executives last night.

White said there would be a lot of discussion as the CEOs had not met for a number of months.

‘‘People will be sharing their experiences of the current situation within the countries.The World Cups will be discussed, I’m sure, but no decisions will be made.’’

As for talk of a summer series with Australia, White said New Zealand Cricket was ‘‘in a unique situation where we’ve all got to be open minded about planning going forward, it’s only April. We’ve got to work together, we’ve got to be flexible . . . so we can accommodate these events.’’

Asked about any impact on the 2021 women’s World Cup to be held in New Zealand, White said: ‘‘Postponement has certainly not being discussed at all . . .. postponement has not been even on the agenda.’’

CA is exploring the possibility of Australia hosting New Zealand in a bilateral series if India was unable to tour due to travel restrictions, though special exemptions could be granted to Virat Kohli’s side if suitable quarantine measures can be found. Roberts confirmed the Adelaide Oval hotel could be used as a quarantine base for India.

Australia and NZ have both managed to limit the spread of the virus after taking aggressive measures early. New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has spoken publicly about a ‘‘travel bubble’’ between the two nations.

The Black Caps lack the commercial pull of India but a summer against the trans-Tasman rival would at least ensure matches for CA’s broadcasters Fox and Seven.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands have ruled out the Blacks Caps’ tour there and it’s ‘‘highly doubtful’’ the Black Caps will also tour the UK and the West Indies in June and July.

White said yesterday the tours proposed for games against Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands and the West Indies were all being affected by coronavirus.

‘‘It’s highly, highly doubtful that we’re going to play these games,’’ he said.

White received an email saying government officials in the Netherlands said the tour ‘‘was not possible.’’

‘‘It’s highly unlikely that we’ll play any of those games and even the West Indies games are significantly in doubt,’’ he said.

A decision will be made regarding the tours ‘‘in a couple of weeks’’, White said.