Australia’s White Ball Tour of Ireland May Get Postponed Due to Shortage of Venues and Financial Concerns: Report
The Australia's white ball tour of Ireland set to scheduled to take place in August and September later this year can get postponed due to the shortage of venues and financial issues. The tour features three ODIs and one T20I.
Australia's men's tour of Ireland scheduled to take place in August and September can be postponed due to financial and venue issues. The white ball tour will take place just ahead of Australia's tour of England. Ireland will be hosting Pakistan, South Africa and Zimbabwe from May to July 2024. Just after the Zimbabwe series, Australia are scheduled to tour Ireland in August. During this period. the Ireland women's team will host England, Netherlands and Sri Lanka. All these series are part of the ICC Future Tours Programme, however, due to the possible strains of Ireland's hectic home schedule and shortage of venues, the series can be moved further. NZ vs AUS 1st Test 2024: Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley Lauds Selectors For Sticking With Cameron Green At No 4 in Batting Order.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Ireland's high-performance director Richard Holdsworth stated that it is a real challenge to deliver as a whole. He added that the country has too much cricket for the amount of venues they have. Holdsworth further added that hosting games in Ireland have seen a significant rise since COVID whereas the temporary infrastructure for grounds have also witnessed a rise. He said, "What we had in the FTP as a whole... it's a real challenge to deliver all of it. We've got almost too much cricket for the amount of venues that we've got. Costs of putting on games in Ireland have gone up considerably since Covid. Hotel prices, putting up temporary infrastructure for grounds have gone up astronomically." ‘I Would Love for Him to Keep Going’ Australia Captain Pat Cummins Backs Nathan Lyon to Play Test Cricket Till 2027.
Richard Holdsworth further stated that delivering the full international schedule would have become easier for Ireland if they had access to the full ICC funds from the new distribution model. He said, "It has meant that our budget is not as great as we thought it would be. If we had more revenues coming in this year, there's no question that we could have been able to deliver more." Ireland are currently playing against Afghanistan in the three-match ODI series.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 07, 2024 03:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).