Australia looking to reschedule South Africa tour: Details here
Cricket Australia will look to reschedule its postponed tour of South Africa as soon as possible. CA chief Nick Hockley said this is however possible if the health situation and calendar allows. Earlier, Australia pulled out of the three-test tour slated for March-April citing an "unacceptable level of health and safety risk to players, support staff and the community." Here are the details.
Why did the Aussies pull out of the tour?
Back in February, Australia opted out of the tour due to "public health situation in South Africa, which includes a second wave and a new variant of the coronavirus". An official statement from Hockley read, "It has become clear that travelling from Australia to SA at this current time poses an unacceptable level of health and safety risk."
Cricket South Africa wrote to the ICC after Australia no-show
Cricket Australia's decision to postpone the tour at the last moment angered the South African board. CSA wrote to the ICC seeking redress following Australia's withdrawal from a three-Test tour of the country supposed to be held in March. CSA had accepted every safety demand but that it was not consulted by CA before the unilateral decision was made not to tour.
Hockley wants to reschedule the tour
Hockley said the "first step" to mending the board's relationship with Cricket South Africa was to come to a resolution with revised dates. "We would like to reschedule it as soon as possible, providing it is safe to do so, and there is time available in the calendar," he told Nine Network-owned newspapers.
How did Australia's cricket calendar pan out?
Australia had pulled out of a Test tour of Bangladesh last year along with white-ball tours of New Zealand and Zimbabwe due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The board also called off a home Test match against Afghanistan last summer along with a home T20 series against West Indies. Australia traveled to England for a white-ball series, besides hosting India for a complete tour.
Hockley wants discussions to be resolved soon
"Now, that's not a simple task. Through the pandemic and quarantine periods there is a lot of cricket that has been rescheduled. But we're right in the middle of constructive discussions and hopefully those discussions will be resolved soon," added Hockley.
Australia missed out on ICC WTC final berth
By not touring South Africa, the Aussies misses out on the ICC World Test Championship final berth. Australia's decision to skip the tour saw New Zealand progress instead. The Kiwis will play against India in the WTC finale.
