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Jess Jonassen, one of eight Australians from the Twenty20 World Cup final to sign up for The Hundred, says the ECB's postponement is expected but disappointing.
Jess Jonassen, one of many Australians affected by the postponement of England's new cricket competition The Hundred, has described the year-long delay as disappointing but inevitable.
Jonassen was set to join fellow Twenty20 World cup winners Meg Lanning and Beth Mooney at Welsh Fire in the inaugural edition of The Hundred.
National coach Matthew Mott had come on board to coach the franchise based in Cardiff.
Some eight members of Australia's XI from the recent T20 World Cup final were confirmed starters in The Hundred, which was set to run from July 18 until August 16.
Steve Smith and Aaron Finch were among the Australian male players to have signed up for the first season of the league, featuring a new format consisting of 100-ball innings.
But the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed this week that The Hundred would instead be launched in 2021.
"Really disappointing for the ECB and whatnot, they put in a lot of hard work for that competition but it probably was inevitable in the sense of what's going on," Jonassen told reporters.
"I know there's a lot of, particularly the female players over there, struggling with it a little bit. Because it was an ideal opportunity for them to be playing professionally for a little while. It's very unfortunate.
"Extremely disappointing, but hopefully I can be part of it next season when it kicks off and everyone can get behind it."
The international schedule is expected to be even more busy in 2021, as national boards scramble to make up series that were scrapped because of the health crisis, so it is unclear whether as many Australian stars will be free to take part.
The Hundred isn't the only coronavirus-related delay for Jonassen, who scheduled her wedding day for May 2 before being forced to postpone the ceremony and honeymoon to Hawaii.
"It's disappointing but bigger things going on in the world," she said.
The allrounder is upbeat the recent progress made in women's cricket, off the field and on it, will not be halted by the current health crisis.
"When all the restrictions are lifted and sport is back on I think everyone will really flock to it and get behind it," she said.
"Regardless of what sport it is and hopefully regardless of what gender the athletes are.
"I'm confident crowds will still come. People still remember what a special World Cup campaign it was."
