Australia to stage delayed T20 World Cup in 2022

The 2020 edition of the T20 World Cup — postponed by the coronavirus pandemic — will be staged in Australia in 2022, the International Cricket Council announced on Friday.

India will host the 2021 edition as planned, the global governing body said, while the 50-over Women's World Cup, scheduled for next year in New Zealand, has been postponed until 2022.

The ICC last month announced that the 2020 edition of the T20 World Cup could not take place as planned in Australia from October this year.

ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney said in a statement on Friday: "We now have absolute clarity on the future of ICC events, enabling all of our members to focus on the rescheduling of lost international and domestic cricket.

"We will now proceed as planned with the men's T20 World Cup 2021 in India and host the 2022 edition in Australia."

ICC acting chairman Imran Khwaja said health and safety had been the top priority.

"The decisions the board have taken today are in the best interests of the sport, our partners and importantly our fans," he added.

COVID-19 has played havoc with the global sporting calendar but international cricket has resumed behind closed doors in England, with the host nation currently taking on Pakistan in a three-match Test series.

The format of the 2021 T20 World Cup will remain as it was for 2020 and all teams that qualified for that event will now participate in India in 2021.

A new qualification process will be run for the 2022 edition.

The format of the postponed Women's World Cup will remain as it was for 2021. Five teams have already qualified for the event and that will stand for 2022.

The original global qualification event to determine the final three teams will now be held in 2021.

Agence France-Presse