New Zeland all-rounder Jimmy Neesham feels that players will be ready to play cricket behind closed doors, including the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year, citing the financial loss most of the cricket boards are bearing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Neesham has the experience of playing in a match without spectators against Australia, which also remains the last international match played before the pandemic. All the cricketing activities across the globe have been suspended to contain the spread of the virus.
"All things considered, you would rather have fans at the ground but you wanna adapt to the situation that is presented to you. If it becomes a situation where the tournament can only be played behind closed doors, then we have to adapt as the players. I think the reality is that it is a huge financial challenge for a lot of cricket boards to still run without any revenue coming in from matches. If it means we need to play behind closed doors, I do not think players would have any problem," Neesham said in a videocast hosted by ESPNcricinfo.Talking about the preparation of the shortest format World Cup, the 29-year-old batter said the team's morale is high as they have performed consistently well in the major tournaments in the past few years.
Kiwis are the runners-up of the last two editions of the 50-over World Cup and setting their eye on the first limited-overs title.
"We feel that New Zealand is a very strong white-ball unit. When you look at global tournament results over the last four-five years. We certainly played our best cricket in the tournaments. Looking at some of the venues in Australia probably that suits us a little bit well. We are confident as we tend to be. Obviously, preparations are on the way for that," he said.
The fate of the T20 World Cup 2020 hangs in balance due to the coronavirus pandemic. The International Cricket Council's Cricket Committee will hold a video conference on May 28 where the future of the competition could be decided.
( With inputs from ANI )
