Euro T20 Slam postponed yet again due to COVID-19
Jul 23, 2020
Dublin [Ireland], July 23 : The Euro T20 Slam's inaugural season has been postponed by another year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The tournament was initially slated to be played in 2019, but was cancelled two weeks prior to the start of the league as the organisers had financial difficulty, ESPNCriicnfo reported.
Then, the three boards behind the competition (Ireland, Scotland, and the Netherlands) made various contingency plans amid the coronavirus pandemic, even the option of staging the tournament in its entirety at Malahide was considered, but finally, the tournament has been postponed due to the uncertainty caused by COVID-19.
"We had been discussing in recent weeks alternative arrangements to get the competition started - single venue, reduced team and player pool, a shorter competition - and, given the speed with which we set up the tri-series between the three boards in Dublin last September, we felt confident to leave the decision as late as possible to give ourselves the best chance to make it work," ESPNCricinfo quoted Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland's chief executive.
"However, we have now run out of the road, particularly with the Irish Government's recent decision to delay the next stage of relaxing its restrictions to August 10, and the Slam Board reluctantly reached the conclusion that the uncertainty caused by the pandemic and compromises being made to the original objectives did not make it a viable start in 2020," he added.
Even though the tournament has been postponed, players from Ireland, Scotland, and the Netherlands will be involved in some top-level cricket this summer.
Ireland squad is currently in Southampton training and preparing for a three-match ODI series against England, while Scotland had returned to training on July 20.
The Netherlands will be playing series against Denmark in August and Scotland in late September.
