Cricket Ireland (CI) have canceled their planned home Test for the summer of 2020 against Bangladesh, as well as, a T20I series against Afghanistan due to “significant financial challenges”.
Ireland had planned only the second Test match at home after their historical debut against Pakistan in Malahide last year, but it has now been forced to convert into a T20 fixture thanks to the financial constraints, as the board is facing financial problems since becoming a Full Member in 2018.
With the expected cost of hosting a Test is around €1 million (US$ 1.14 million approx.), the Ireland board has decided to prioritize white-ball cricket keeping in mind the upcoming consecutive T20 World Cups, in 2020 and 2021, and the start of qualification for the 50-over World Cup in 2023.
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On Monday (December 16), CI chief executive Warren Deutrom confirmed the same in a statement while saying the board had to make “tough decisions” about their commitments for 2020 after having suffered a shortfall in their expected funding allocation from the ICC.
Deutrom stated on the Cricket Ireland website, “The first area of prioritization for 2020, has been white-ball cricket over the red ball. Like all Irish cricket fans, we would love nothing more than to be competing on all three fronts – Tests, ODIs, and T20Is. Unfortunately, our financial constraints have led us to cut the home Test match next year.”
He continued, “As the Test does not form part of the World Test Championship, the one-off match lacks context. For effectively a ‘friendly’, the expected costs for hosting the Test would be over €1 million, with little expectation of creating revenue streams to cover the costs of hosting. Those tough decisions also include having to prioritize some white-ball cricket over others.”
Deutrom signed off by saying, “However, we have notified the Afghanistan Cricket Board that we shall not be in a position to host them for the five planned T20Is in 2020. We have been regular and frequent opponents of the Afghans every year for a long time now, and we shall be again in the future. However, needs must at this juncture to ensure we are operating as a responsible governing body operating within our means.”
(With Irishtimes Inputs)
