The upcoming New Zealand‘s tour of Australia, which included three ODIs and a T20I, has been postponed indefinitely due to quarantine issues.
The trans-tasman rivals were scheduled to play the three ODIs on January 30 and February 2 and 5 while the T20I was scheduled for February 8. Notably, New Zealand’s quarantine issues and border controls matters were the key reasons behind the postponement of the white-ball fixtures.
Due to prevalent Omicron wave of Covid-19 infections, the New Zealand government has announced to impose a hard 10-day mandatory quarantine for everyone. The announcement meant that New Zealand Cricket (NZC) could not secure guarantees whether its players would be allowed back into the country.
After the development, reports have suggested that Cricket Australia (CA) and the NZC officials have discussed the possibility of rescheduling these matches in Australia.
Commenting on the issue, NZC chief executive David White said: “As we now know, the advent of Omicron prompted a change of heart from the NZ Government, resulting in a hard 10-day mandatory isolation period being imposed on all incoming travellers. NZC and CA had explored a proposal to expand the tour and to push out the date on which the squad might return to New Zealand in the hope that might be more achievable for the Government.”
“Unfortunately, we received advice this morning that they could not provide certainty over this,” he concluded.
On the other hand, CA chief executive Nick Hockley said: “We are extremely disappointed that we won’t be able to play the scheduled matches against New Zealand as planned, however we will continue to work with New Zealand Cricket to reschedule the series.”
“We thank NZC, who made every effort to make the series happen, however because they were unable to get certainty over return quarantine arrangements, it is simply just not possible at this time. We know fans will be disappointed and thank them for their understanding given the unique circumstances that the global pandemic presents for everyone. We look forward to welcoming Sri Lanka to Australia next month and will confirm the schedule for that series as soon as possible,” he added.
Significantly, it is the third successive year when the white-ball fixtures between the two sides have been postponed due to Covid concerns.
After the postponement of the fixtures, there are currently no One-Day Internationals schedule for the Australian team this summer.
Notably, the upcoming series was to make the final visit from retiring New Zealand great Ross Taylor, who had signed off from Test cricket earlier this month.