The semifinal between India and England in the women's T20 World Cup was called off. © Getty

Cricket Australia would welcome the idea of having reserve days for the knockout stages of this year's men's T20 World Cup, scheduled to be hosted by them in October-November, 2020. The tournament organisers are keen to have reserve days for the two semi-final games, scheduled to be hosted in Sydney (November 11) and Adelaide (November 12). Melbourne will be hosting the grand final on November 15th and a reserve day is already in place in case of any rain delays.

The dialogue opened in the wake of the fiasco that engulfed the standalone women's tournament held earlier this year. With no reserve days in place, the first semi-final between India and England was washed out while the second match between hosts Australia and South Africa saw a truncated affair. Both matches were held at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and players expressed disappointment at not having got a proper shot at the finals.

International Cricket Council's (ICC) tournament rules and regulations stipulate for no reserve days until the final, but Cricket Australia and the tournament organising committee are hopeful of a turnaround when the ICC's Cricket Committee meets later this year to discuss the playing conditions for the tournament. The decisions taken during the meeting will be ratified by the ICC's Chief Executive Committee (CEC) later in the year.

As such, the tournament rules and regulations can be changed if any of the ICC member boards do press for it during the CEC meeting, but such a late change to playing conditions have seldom gone through. Kevin Roberts, Cricket Australia's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will attend the ICC's CEC meeting and he noted that there lies a provision where playing conditions for a tournament can be changed, while also conceding the low probability of the reversal in roles.

"There's always cause for reflection at the end of any tournament or any season, in terms of how you approach future tournaments," Roberts told cricket.com.au. "In saying that, there will be people who suggest there should be semi-final reserve days for the men's. But I'm not sure how the English women's team would feel about that, not having had a reserve day in their leg of the tournament," he added.

England's women team crashed out of the tournament after the semis washout against India as they had lesser points in the group stage when compared to that of the Indians. Previously, the men's and women's tournament were held concurrently and as such the playing conditions didn't differ for the two competitions. However, CA decided to host the two tournaments separately across two domestic seasons and the playing conditions for the women's tournament explicitly mentioned that 'there would be no reserve days for any other matches other than the final'. This was in accordance with ICC's stated policy of completing the 'quick' tournament within the short window of three weeks (excluding the qualification tournament).

"I would imagine the playing conditions are in place for the women's and men's events within this tournament (in 2020) and can be discussed and considered after that's completed. Typically, the playing conditions are determined before a tournament starts and we've got two events here - women's and men's - within the one tournament, albeit staged at different times of the year," Roberts added.

The men's tournament proper is scheduled to start on October 24th with hosts Australia taking on Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).