Former England captain Michael Vaughan and current South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock have bashed the International Cricket Council (ICC) for unfair treatment. Due to the ongoing Middle East conflict, the airspace in West Asia was closed, and teams eliminated from the T20 World Cup 2026 weren’t able to return home.
The West Indies, who played their last game in Kolkata on March 1, have been stuck since. South Africa was knocked out on March 4 and England on March 5. Yet the first team out of the three to depart from India is England.
Earlier today, it came out that the ICC has arranged for charter flights for all three. England left in the evening from Mumbai for London. But why wasn’t the West Indies or South Africa given preference? They were knocked out earlier; surely, they should be sent home first? No, that isn’t it. In fact, the two teams will leave on March 8 together. The charter flight will first head to Johannesburg and then to Antigua.
ICC biased?
This doesn’t sit right with Vaughan or de Kock. The former has criticised the ICC for unfair treatment, stating that England was sent home earlier because the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) holds more power in cricket than Cricket South Africa (CSA) or Cricket West Indies (CWI). “All teams in this situation should be treated the same. Just because you are more powerful at the ICC table shouldn’t count,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Quinton took to Instagram to criticise the ICC. “Funny, we have heard nothing! Meanwhile, England before us somehow? The West Indies and South Africa are just in the dark! Strange how different teams have more pull than others,” he wrote.
