CWI ‘waiting on Afghanistan board’ over T20 tri-series

CRICKET WEST Indies (CWI) is awaiting word from the Afghanistan Cricket Board over a proposed T20 International tri-series between hosts Afghanistan, the West Indies and Australia.

According to a recent report on Cricinfo, “Afghanistan are likely to host Australia and West Indies for a T20I tri-series in the first week in October before the (forthcoming) T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to run from October 17 to November 14 in United Arab Emirates and Oman.”

The Cricinfo report added, “The tri-series, which will be confirmed once the venue availability is clear, is likely to take place in Qatar or the UAE, according to (Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO Hamid) Shinwari.”

CWI CEO Johnny Grave, in a Whatsapp interview on Monday, said, “The original plan was to play the tri-series in India when the T20 World Cup was there. We are waiting to hear from the Afghanistan Cricket Board whether the series will go ahead and, if so, where.”

Another point to note, according to the Cricinfo report, is the resumption of the Indian Premier League.

“If it goes ahead as planned, the tri-series is likely to run alongside IPL 2021, which is scheduled from September 19 to October 15 in the UAE,” the report said. “As a result, a number of big names from all three sides could be missing from the tri-series.”

With regards to the announcement of the West Indies squad for the T20 World Cup, Grave said, “September 10th is the official ICC submission date.”