Will be publishing World Cup fixtures soon: ICC CEO

Geoff Allardice, the International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive, confirmed that the global governing body of cricket will publish the fixtures for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup as soon as possible. The One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament is scheduled to be hosted by India which will likely be contested from 5 October to 19 November 2023.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah recently said that the World Cup schedule will be released during the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia at The Oval in London. Allardice, on the other hand, refused to commit to the time frame Shah mentioned.

According to Allardice, the ICC must consult with all participating teams and broadcasters over the schedule. He also stated that the board will publish the fixtures as soon as feasible following all the meetings.

“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. When we put on events, we very much work hand in hand with the hosts,” Allardice was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

ICC’s events team is working on the things that they can progress for the event: Allardice

The ICC CEO was further asked if Pakistan’s willingness to play in India had anything to do with the apparent delay in the announcement of fixtures. He declined the fact saying the ICC’s events team is very experienced in putting on cricket events in many countries and they manage what they control. He went on to say that’s the approach the team is sticking to, and they’re focusing on the things they can move forward for the event.

“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. 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,” the ICC CEO further added.