Afraid that postponement of the Champions Trophy is effectively its cancellation, Cricket Australia (CA) has started mourning the millions of dollars it is set to lose.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said "Everyone's left in tears" after the terror attacks in Mumbai resulted in postponement of the Champions League and reckoned there was little chance of Twenty20 extravaganza being hosted any time soon.
"The planned approach is a 12-month postponement. So what that means is whoever the champion of the day is, they'll get to play in the next event," Sutherland told the 'Sydney Morning Herald'.
"We're all out of pocket. There's no money floating around for anyone as a result of this," he rued.
According to estimates, Western Australia and Victoria - two Australian teams which made it to the Champions Trophy - will lose at least $250,000 appearance fee and up to three million, the winner's purse.
The loss of CA, which is a 25 per cent stakeholder in the league, would run into millions, Sutherland said.
"(CA is losing) quite a lot. It's millions of dollars. Again, this whole issue and all of the problems in Mumbai are bigger and greater than cricket. We fully understand that these things happen. Unfortunately that's how it is. There are a lot of people worse off than us," he said.
Though the League Governing Council meets on December 8 to discuss a possible rescheduling, Sutherland reckons chances are slim because the second edition of the Indian Premier League is scheduled from April 10.
Asked if star Australian players, who play for different IPL franchises, would agree to travel to India, Sutherland said, "The players have to answer that themselves. Incidents like this make everyone think hard about it... everyone would feel reluctant about travelling to India, but in the fullness of time things change and life goes on as it will in Mumbai."
Cricket Victoria chief executive Tony Dodemaide, meanwhile, insisted that players' safety, and not money, was the primary concern for the club.
"That's absolutely the major concern, the financial side we'll worry about at another time," he said.
CA mourns losing millions after CL postponement
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