The Black Caps’ upcoming white ball tour of Australia has been postponed due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, New Zealand Cricket has announced.
NZC confirmed on Wednesday afternoon the Black Caps' tour of Australia - which featured three ODIs and a sole T20 - has been “postponed until further notice due to the lack of certainty over when the squad would be able to return to New Zealand”.
NZC chief executive David White said in a statement the decision was made after the Government told them on Wednesday they could not provide “certainty” on whether restrictions would ease next month.
“As we now know, the advent of Omicron prompted a change of strategy from the Government, resulting in a hard 10-day mandatory isolation period being imposed on all incoming travellers,” said White.
“NZC and CA had explored a proposal to expand the tour and to push out the date on which the squad might return to New Zealand, in the hope that might be more achievable for the Government.
“But we received advice [Wednesday] morning that they could not provide certainty over this, either.”
It comes after 1News revealed last week that if team headed to Australia, they would do so despite having no MIQ spots booked throughout February.
NZC told 1News last week it was "reluctant to request more MIQ space given the amount of cricket the Government was already accommodating", which included teams for the Women’s Cricket World Cup and men’s teams from Bangladesh, South Africa and the Netherlands.
Initially the series was organised to coincide with quarantine-free travel between both countries, but the easing of those restrictions were delayed by the New Zealand Government late last year.
Discussions are now continuing with CA over when the postponed fixtures will be played.
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