As the outbreak of the novel COVID virus matures, there is little known about the true nature of the virus, but the world seems to realize that the show must go on. However, the norms of the show might change drastically. The commonalities of the pre-COVID world are now part of dreams.
Cricket, as highlighted by the recent guidelines from ICC would be in the list of games that have taken a severe transformation under the light of pandemic. Australia and its neighboring New Zealanders seem to have done a remarkable job in limiting the spread of corona. As a result, things are coming back on track gradually.
Cricket Australia has shown optimism too when it revealed the complete cricketing schedule for the 2020-21 summer. The key highlight of the complete schedule is the international cricket making a return in August and going seamlessly till February. However, chief executive Kevin Roberts added that the schedule is subject to a change due to the uncertainty of the COVID virus. The men shall play the much-anticipated Border – Gavaskar series in December and the Australian women are scheduled to play against the neighbor White Ferns in the shortest format of the game alongside 50-over encounters too.
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Australia announced its International fixtures for the coming summer.
They will play 3 T20I and 3 ODIs vs @WHITE_FERNS later this year. #AUSvNZ pic.twitter.com/swDObruVDn
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) May 28, 2020
Indian women are also scheduled to meet the Aussie side in the one-day internationals. Roberts said that “We are working closely with the BCCI to deliver the eagerly anticipated men’s and women’s tours, and we are looking forward to staging the important series against both the men’s and women’s New Zealand sides”.
The consistent Aussie women are set to have their first T20 match since their glorious finals in the Women’s T20 world cup earlier this year. Three games of the shortest format with New Zealand are scheduled in October. The dates are 5,7 and 10 with the venues being Townsville, Cairns, and the Gold Coast respectively. These matches will be important with the ODI world cup coming early next year. The female one-day side is scheduled to start their focused campaign against a quality side i.e. India. Three ODIs are scheduled on January 22, January 25 and January 28. The grounds shall be Manuka oval, Junction oval at Melbourne, and Blundstone Arena in Hobart.
Cricket Australia unveils a full international fixture for the 2020-21 summer.
India to play 3 ODIs in Australia next year. #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/mNPoqXu1Sh
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) May 28, 2020
The Aussie side is led by Meg Lanning and will kick off their world cup journey on the 7th of February in Auckland. In a statement, Roberts further said that “We will continue to assess whether it is possible for them to attend matches in person, however, if it is not deemed possible, we already have a solid blueprint in place”. He was confident in the world and the cricket in Australia to fight the pandemic and come out stronger than ever.
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