Black Caps’ tour to Australia under a Covid cloud
The Black Caps’ white ball tour to Australia is under a cloud with extended transTasman border restrictions creating issues.
New Zealand were scheduled to depart on January 24 for three ODIs against Australia, starting on January 30 in Perth, and a Twenty20 international in Canberra on February 8.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) remains confident the team will travel to Australia for the tour, but there may need to be changes to the schedule.
NZC is in daily communication with Cricket Australia and working through several options including potential postponement. A New Zealand squad for the tour has yet to be announced.
The Black Caps don’t have managed isolation spots booked for their return in
February with the tour originally planned to coincide with quarantine-free travel between the countries, which was later delayed by the government.
The government was planning to allow fully vaccinated New Zealanders and residents to arrive in New Zealand from Australia without going through managed isolation from mid-January.
With the emergence of the infectious Omicron variant, that has been pushed back until at least the end of February to give the country more time to roll out a booster shot programme, given a surge in
Covid-19 cases overseas.
NZC spokesman Richard Boock said the team wouldn’t travel to Australia unless there were clear plans around their arrival.
The white ball squad will include Ross Taylor in his farewell international season but won’t feature any of New Zealand’s test players, who will remain behind to prepare for the two-test series against South Africa, starting February 17 in Christchurch. The second test is at Wellington’s Basin Reserve from February 25.
‘‘We’re just talking things through now with Cricket Australia. We haven’t given up and we’re still committed to touring, but there’s going to have to be some changes in terms of when we return,’’ Boock told Stuff.
‘‘We won’t go over there unless we’ve got a plan for returning.
‘‘If it’s checkmate, it’s checkmate, and right now it’s not, [the tour] is still in play. We’re just trying to work through solutions. Cricket Australia have been very helpful and co-operative and collaborating as well. It’s just a matter of waiting and seeing what we come up with.’’
One realistic option could be delaying the squad’s return to New Zealand and scheduling other matches in Australia in February.
NZC didn’t apply for MIQ spots for the Black Caps’ Australian touring party because it had looked like the transTasman border was going to be relaxed in the new year, Boock said.
It was also wary of booking more MIQ places, considering the large amount already requested for cricket with the Women’s Cricket World Cup, which begins in March, and places for the Bangladesh,
South Africa, and Netherlands men’s teams, who tour this summer.
New Zealand last played Australia in an ODI at the SCG in March 2020, losing by 71 runs, as the Covid-19 pandemic started to take off around the world. The series was promptly cancelled after the match with the team needing to return home with the announcement of new border restrictions.
‘‘We’re committed to touring [Australia] and we’ve got a few balls in the air. We don’t feel we’ve exhausted all solutions,’’ Boock said.
‘‘Different solutions are all being considered and we’re still committed to touring and confident we’re going.’’
Meanwhile, Boock confirmed South Africa would still travel for next month’s two-test series against New Zealand, despite the worrying Covid-19 situation there and fresh Omicron wave.
South Africa, with close to 31⁄2 million infections and 92,000 deaths, has been the worst-hit country in Africa during the pandemic.
‘‘We’ve been in constant communication with them and they’re committed to tour and we’ve got MIQ accommodation for them. It’s all go.’’
South Africa are currently hosting India in a three-test series, which will be followed by three ODIs, in a biosecure bubble with no crowds.
South Africa will bring a 32-person touring party to New Zealand and have applied for an exemption to train at the sporting managed isolation facility at Lincoln, near Christchurch.
Under the orange traffic light setting, full crowds would be permitted for the two tests with patrons needing to be vaccinated to attend.