On again, off again for codes
Trans-Tasman netball and cricket internationals in coming weeks can still go ahead under Covid-19 alert level 2, albeit without fans.
Netball New Zealand and New Zealand Cricket both said their big home series against Australia were not under threat, if the respective host cities were at alert level 2 or below.
NZC public affairs manager Richard Boock said of its matches: ‘‘If it’s at level 2 it’s [played] behind closed doors, and if it’s at level 3 it’s abandoned.’’
Boock said it was ‘‘very unlikely’’ the Twenty20 doubleheader scheduled for Eden Park on March 5 would be moved, meaning a continuation of level 3 in Auckland would see it called off.
Level 2, which is all areas outside Auckland until 11.59pm tonight, restricts public gatherings to 100 people which means sporting events can take place without crowds.
The England women’s team played the second match of its cricket tour against a New Zealand XI under alert level 2 restrictions in Queenstown yesterday, and is scheduled to face the White Ferns in the opening one-day international in Christchurch next Tuesday.
Australia’s men’s team, currently in managed isolation in Christchurch, opesn its Twenty20 tour against the Black Caps at Hagley Oval on Monday night.
That match is already sold out, and requires a shift from level 2 to level 1 for fans to be allowed in.
NZC transferred Aucklandbased Black Caps Kyle Jamieson, Mark Chapman, Jimmy Neesham and Glenn Phillips to Mt Maunganui on Sunday to train, before the alert level change, and they will fly to Christchurch tomorrow. Martin Guptill remained in Auckland as he and wife Laura await the birth of their second child.
Currently all sport in Auckland is off, and travel in and out restricted, due to alert level 3.
Boock said Friday’s Ford Trophy match between Auckland Aces and Central Stags at Eden Park’s Outer Oval had not yet been abandoned, in the hope of a relaxation of alert levels if the current outbreak is contained.
Australia’s subsequent T20 matches against the Black Caps are scheduled for Dunedin (February 25) and Wellington (March 3) before game four in Auckland.
England’s women play the White Ferns in three ODIs in Christchurch and Dunedin (February 26 and 28) before the first T20 as a double header in Wellington on March 3.
Australia’s Diamonds netball team arrived in New Zealand on Monday for its fortnight of managed isolation, ahead of tests against the Silver Ferns in Christchurch on March 2 and 3, and in Tauranga on March 6 and 7.
NNZ chose to stage the series outside of Auckland because of concerns about Covid-19’s return to the city.
The Silver Ferns didn’t play for nine months last year as
Covid-19 wiped out their schedule, but they returned to the court last October for a three-test series against the England Roses in Hamilton, which they won 3-0.
The 2020 Constellation Cup was postponed because of Covid19.
The Silver Ferns will gather before the series on February 28, a NNZ spokesperson said, and their preparations haven’t been affected too much by Auckland’s return to level 3.
Most of the squad is based outside the city.