Despite the fact that the International Cricket Council (ICC) world is expected to being in four months, the venues and fixtures for the tournament remain unconfirmed.
However, ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice recently said that the cricket council intends to publish a full schedule for the men’s World Cup — which is being hosted by India — “as soon as we possibly can”.
“I think even today [Wednesday] we might be receiving the schedule from the hosts, and we’ve just got a bit of consultation to do with all the participating teams and the broadcasters. Then we’ll be publishing that as soon as we possibly can,” Allardice said during an interview on the BBC’s Test Match Special.
He added: “When we put on events, we very much work hand in hand with the hosts.”
“In some places, there’s a lot of consultation that needs to take place, both within the cricket system and with governments, etc. There’s a lot of responsibility on a host to deliver a good event, and they’ve got to go through the right checks and balances,” Allardice said.
It is important to note that the schedule for the ODI World Cup in 2019 — held in England and Wales — was released 13 months before the opening game.
Moreover, the schedule for the 2015 tournament in Australia and New Zealand was released a full 18 months before the first match.
ESPNcricinfo reported in March this year that the tournament is likely to start in October and end in November; however, the ICC has not publicly confirmed any dates.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah recently said that the schedule would be unveiled during the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval.
However, Allardice did not commit to this timeline.
During the interview, Allardice was also questioned regarding Pakistan’s unwillingness to play in India and if it had any bearing on the apparent delay in the fixtures being announced.
The ICC CE declined to answer.
“Until I see the schedule… I’m waiting, and I’m hoping that I’ll see something in the next day or two on that,” he said. “Our events team is very experienced at putting on cricket events in all different countries, and you control what you control.
“And I think that’s the approach that our team is taking, and they’re working on the things that they can progress for the event. The moment we have that information, we’ll be pushing on it at a rate of knots,” he said.
