Nathan Lyon: Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia has pulled out of a planned three-test series against the Proteas in South Africa later this month, sighting the unacceptable level of health and safety risk to its players, support staff and the community, by travelling to the Rainbow Nation.
Cricket Australia interim chief Nick Hockley said in a statement on Tuesday that the medical advice was not to travel. He said the decision had not been made lightly and that Cricket Australia was extremely disappointed.
He said they looked forward to playing the series against South Africa at a date to be confirmed in due course but that the risks were simply too great at this time.
Cricket Australia had already named its squad for the South African tour before Tuesday’s postponement, axing middle order batsman Matthew Wade and retaining under-pressure captain Tim Paine.
Cricket Australia’s announcement that it was aborting the tour came less than 24 hours after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that South Africa had "passed the peak" of its second coronavirus infection wave, but that the virus remains a major problem.
In its reaction, Cricket South Africa placed on record its immense disappointment at the news.
It said the safety of players is always paramount and over the past few months, CSA had held many detailed discussions with Cricket Australia regarding Covid-19 protocols.
These discussions included assessing and managing the Covid-19 risks and consulting with a range of leading medical experts including the SA Ministerial COVID Advisory Committee.
CSA said it worked hard to meet the changing demands of its Australian counterparts.
Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith, said they were particularly disappointed given that South Africa recently hosted Sri Lanka in a bio-secure environment at Centurion, with no breaches of protocol.
Currently the Pakistan Women’s team are touring the country in a bio-secure environment in Durban.
