Defending itself on Wednesday, Cricket Australia (CA) interim chief executive Nick Hockley described their decision to postpone the South Africa tour as “heartbreaking” but said that the Covid-19 situation in South Africa gave the Australians no choice.
“We share their disappointment, we’ve all worked to make this tour happen,” Hockley told reporters.
“At the end of the day, the weight of medical advice and our duty of care to players and staff meant we were really left with no alternative,” he added.
Hockley further said CA had offered to host the series in Australia, where the virus is largely contained, hoping the three-match series could be rescheduled.
He however, also said no arrangements had yet been made.
Significantly, CA has also dropped series against the West Indies, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and New Zealand since the pandemic hit.
Meanwhile, Hockley also refuted claims that financial considerations had played a part in Australia’s scheduling decisions during the pandemic.
“I’d refute that in the strongest possible terms,” he asserted.
“We have done absolutely everything we possibly can to make this tour happen. It’s a very difficult situation in South Africa just now, that’s what makes it even more heartbreaking that we are not able to go. We would love to go but the medical advice says it’s not safe to do so. We want to play cricket, we want to support world cricket,” he concluded.
Significantly, South Africa is the one worst-hit country with the pandemic with 1.5 million infections and more than 44,000 deaths.
Earlier on Tuesday, CSA had slammed the CA, terming the move “extremely” disappointing which will lead to “serious financial loss”.
“We are extremely disappointed by the decision of CA,” Cricket South Africa (CSA) director of cricket, Graeme Smith said in a statement.
“CSA has been working tirelessly in recent weeks to ensure that we meet every single expectation of CA,” he added.
Significantly, the Australian team was scheduled to play a three-Test series during the tour.
Earlier last month, CA had named a 19-man squad for the tour.