Staging the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia this year in the midst of a global Covid-19 pandemic is "unrealistic", Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings has admitted.
The tournament is scheduled to take place from 18 October to 15 November, and officials have previously said they are planning for it to proceed on those dates.
But with many global borders still shut due to virus-related travel restrictions, Eddings conceded that was looking increasingly unlikely.
"While it hasn't been formally called off this year, or postponed, trying to get 16 countries into Australia in the current world, where most countries are still going through Covid-19 spiking, I think it's unrealistic, or it's going to be very, very difficult," he said.
Eddings said Cricket Australia had put forward a number of options to the International Cricket Council.
"The ICC are having meetings as we speak, it's a bit of a movable feast at the moment," he said.
T20 World Cup chief executive Nick Hockley, who on Tuesday took over as interim Cricket Australia chief, said he expected the ICC to make a decision about the tournament's future next month.
"We've got a fantastic local organising committee who are busy preparing for every eventuality and the decision that will come," he said.
The most likely scenario appears to be rescheduling the tournament until next year, but it will depend on the status of the pandemic and finding a spot in cricket's crowded calendar.
Ireland are due to play Sri Lanka, Oman and Papua New Guinea in one of two round-robin preliminary groups, with the top-two progressing to the 'Super 12' stage.
Last month, captain Andrew Balbirnie said the logistical challenges posed by coronavirus made him fear the tournament would not be able to proceed as planned this year.
"You have to look at it logistically - there would be 16 teams flying into the country," he said.
"The way this pandemic has panned out, a lot can happen in a couple of days, so we really don't know yet. It's tricky, but we're battling on."
