Cricket Australia (CA) ‘last-minute’ decision didn’t seem to go well with Cricket South Africa (CSA) as according to the former Proteas captain and CSA Director Graeme Smith, the indefinite postponement of the series was uncalled-for.
He said that despite their tight schedule, CSA had managed to make all the arrangements for the series so it could proceed seamlessly.
“We are extremely disappointed by the decision of CA,” Smith said in a statement.
“CSA has been working tirelessly in recent weeks to ensure that we meet every single expectation of CA. So to be informed about the CA decision at the eleventh hour is frustrating.”
The Australian men team was to tour South Africa this month for a three-match Test series. However, given the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the host country, CA has decided not to go ahead with the tour as planned to avoid putting the health of the players and staff at risk.
“In this challenging period for cricket and its member countries, we believe the stance taken by CA is regrettable and will have a serious impact on the sustainability of the less wealthy cricket playing nations,” said CSA’s acting chief executive officer Pholetsi Moseki, who believes that they delaying the series would incur a significant loss to the board.
In response, Cricket Australia’s interim CEO Nick Hockley said their reason for pulling out of the tour was justified. He added that they could not put the health of the players at risk under any conditions, and South Africa’s pandemic situation doesn’t favor the tour.
“We did offer to host the series here but Cricket South Africa made that very clear that they have got lots of other commitments and with quarantine periods and the like, that just wasn’t feasible,” Hockley said on Wednesday.
“I don’t think Cricket South Africa could have done any more in terms of biosecurity arrangements,” he added.
“Putting health and safety absolutely number one, we were really left with no option.”
