Amsterdam, Nov 16: The postponement of this year's ICC T20 World Cup in Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic has badly hit cricketers in lower-ranked and associate nations.
Almost every cricket board's revenue was hit badly as the sporting world came to a grinding halt due to the pandemic. Cricket, however, returned after a gap for more than a hundred days with England and West Indies playing the first Test series followed by a bilateral series between England and Pakistan.
The cricket boards, big and small, have already announced pay-cuts for this season to prevent further loss. The players from smaller cricket nations are facing the most trouble due to the pandemic.
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At a time when the players were supposed to compete at the highest level in the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia, some players are trying to make a living by doing some odd jobs.
Netherlands' cricketer Paul van Meekeren is amongst those players whose life has been severely affected due to the coronavirus pandemic. After the postponement of the T20 world cup, The 27-year-old has revealed that he is delivering food in order to make ends meet amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"Should've been playing cricket today. Now I'm delivering Uber eats to get through the winter months!! Funny how things change hahaha keep smiling people," tweeted Meekeren.
Should’ve been playing cricket today 😏😢 now I’m delivering Uber eats to get through the winter months!! Funny how things change hahaha keep smiling people 😁 https://t.co/kwVEIo6We9
— Paul van Meekeren (@paulvanmeekeren) November 15, 2020
Meekeren - who is an important member of the Netherlands side - has played 5 ODIs and 41 T20Is for the Dutch side and is also a part of the English County side Somerset. He last featured in a T20 game against Papua New Guinea, on November 2, 2019.
The Dutch team is led by Pieter Seelaar and the Men In Orange will be representing their country in the T20 World Cup 2021 in India. India will be hosting next year's T20 World Cup and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly recently exuded confidence over hosting the world cup as the countdown for the mega event began.