Proteas’ tour of West Indies in the balance
Cricket SA acting CEO Jacques Faul said the Proteas tour of West Indies scheduled for the end of July will be determined by June’s International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting.
As things stand‚ SA are due to make their first Test tour of the Caribbean in 10 years, with the first Test scheduled for Trinidad on July 23 and the second Test at St Lucia on July 31.
The West Indies have three Wisden Trophy Tests against England, beginning on July 8 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton‚ followed by two at Old Trafford in Manchester on July 16 and 25.
“We’re waiting on two things that’ll change the Future Tours Programme (FTP). The first one is where we’ll be going with the T20 World Cup. Once that’s confirmed‚ that’ll reshuffle the whole FTP‚” Faul said.
“The second one is an indication of when the Indian Premier League (IPL) will take place because that’s also going to reshuffle the FTP.”
The novel coronavirus has not only led to the postponement or cancellations of tours‚ but it has held back the money-spinning IPL. It also threatens October’s ICC T20 World Cup, due to take place in Australia.
England’s domestic season has yet to start because of Covid-19, while SA’s and Australia’s seasons were curtailed‚ even though they were already in the final stages of completion.
Faul said there is a possibility of the tour itinerary changing in the event of a rescheduling. SA are scheduled to play two T20s in Lauderhill in Florida on August 8 and 9 before returning to the West Indies to complete the series in Kingston‚ Jamaica.
“Everything is in limbo‚ but I think the ICC board is going to come to a decision next week and we’ll be moving from there,” Faul said.
● West Indies named a 14-man squad for July’s proposed threeTest series in England, with three players refusing to travel due to Covid-19.
The Cricket West Indies (CWI) board said on Wednesday that batsmen Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer and allrounder Keemo Paul declined to travel to England for the tour.
CWI also named 11 reserve players who will travel and quarantine with the squad to ensure replacements are readily available in case of injuries.
“The touring party, who will all be tested for Covid-19 this week, are scheduled to fly to England on private charters on June 8,” CWI said in a statement.
“Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul all declined the invitation to travel to England for the tour and CWI fully respects their decision to choose to do so.”
The touring squad is set to live and train at biosecure venues during the tour.