International cricket in 2020–21

The 2020–21 international cricket season is currently taking place from September 2020 to April 2021.[1][2] Currently, 29 Tests, 49 One Day Internationals (ODIs), 49 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), 12 Women's One Day Internationals (WODIs) and 17 Women's Twenty20 Internationals (WT20Is) are scheduled to be played during this period. Additionally, a number of other T20I/WT20I matches are scheduled to be played in minor series involving associate nations.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continued into the 2020–21 international calendar. The 2021 Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand was scheduled to take place during this time, starting on 6 February 2021.[3][4] However, in August 2020, this was postponed by one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] The 2020 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was also scheduled to be played in October and November in Australia, but this was also postponed by one year due to the pandemic.[6]

In July 2020, the men's 2020 Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in September 2020, was postponed until June 2021.[7] In August 2020, the West Indies tour of Australia was postponed,[8] along with India's T20I fixtures against Australia.[9] Also in August 2020, England's ODI and T20I matches against India was rescheduled to take place in early 2021.[10] Bangladesh's tour to Sri Lanka, originally scheduled to be played in July 2020, was moved to October 2020.[11] On 28 August 2020, Pakistan's planned tour to South Africa was also postponed.[12] However, in October 2020, the tour was rescheduled to take place in April 2021.[13]

In September 2020, it was confirmed that the 2020 edition of the Women's Asia Cup, scheduled to be played in Bangladesh,[14] had been cancelled as well.[15] Also in September, Cricket Australia confirmed that the one-off Test match against Afghanistan, and the limited-overs series against New Zealand had both been postponed due to the pandemic.[16] On 28 September 2020, Bangladesh's planned tour to Sri Lanka was postponed for a second time, after both cricket boards could not agree on the quarantine requirements.[17]

International women's cricket started with the first WT20I between Australia and New Zealand, with Australia winning by 17 runs.[18] Australia won the WT20I series 2–1,[19] and then went on to win the WODI series between the two teams 3–0.[20] With their 3–0, the team recorded 21 consecutive wins in the format, equalling the men's record set by Ricky Ponting's team of 2002–03.[21] International men's cricket started with Zimbabwe's tour of Pakistan, with Pakistan winning the first ODI match by 26 runs.[22] In November 2020, Ireland and Scotland women's planned tour to Spain was the next series to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after Scotland withdrew from the series.[23] In December 2020, England's ODI matches against South Africa were postponed following a COVID-19 outbreak.[24] On 31 December 2020, Cricket Australia confirmed that the India women's tour of Australia, scheduled to take place in January 2021, had been postponed by one year.[25]

In December 2020, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced a revised schedule for fixtures that had been postponed due to the pandemic that formed part of the qualification pathway for the 2023 Cricket World Cup.[26] These included the Cricket World Cup League 2 matches scheduled to be played in Namibia and Nepal,[27] and the Cricket World Cup Challenge League series originally planned to be played in Malaysia.[28] In January 2021, Ireland were scheduled to play four ODIs in the UAE against the hosts. However, two matches were cancelled following a COVID-19 scare within the UAE's team, resulting in the tour schedule being changed on multiple occasions.[29] In February 2021, Australia's planned tour of South Africa,[30] and Sri Lanka's tour of the West Indies were both postponed due to the pandemic.[31]