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ICC Challenge League A called off due to COVID-19

by Bertus de Jong • Last updated on

Earlier, a women's quadrangular T20I series to be held in Thailand was cancelled. © Getty

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has prompted the ICC to postpone the second round of CWC Challenge League A, which was set to be begin in Malaysia on March 16. The six-team tourney is the second of three rounds that make up on of the two groups in the Challenge League - the third tier of the 2023 World Cup qualification ladder.

The ICC hope to reschedule the 11-day event featuring Canada, Denmark, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore, and Vanuatu, for later in 2020.

The announcement follows the cancellation of the women's quadrangular T20I series between Thailand, Ireland, the Netherlands and Zimabwe that was set to be held in Chiang Mai in April and the similar postponement of Nepal's Everest Premier League, which was confirmed earlier today.

ICC Head of Events, Chris Tetley said: "We have made the difficult decision to postpone the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Challenge League A due to the Coronavirus outbreak. We have been monitoring the situation very closely and have concluded that the best course of action is to postpone the event owing to the increasing travel difficulties between countries and the potential uncertainty around teams returning home.

"I would like to thank the Malaysian Cricket Association and all participating Members for their support. The well-being of everyone involved is our first priority and we look forward to the event being played later in the year."

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