Ross Taylor’s farewell series has been postponed after authorities refused to budge on quarantine restrictions, New Zealand Cricket confirmed on January 20.
The Kiwis have announced that their scheduled tour to Australia, where they were to play three ODIs and a solitary T20I has been postponed. The decision has been taken over the uncertain return date given that there are strict COVID-19 related measures in place Down Under and in New Zealand as well.
NZ has some strict travel restrictions, which also includes a 10-day mandatory institutional quarantine upon arrival. With a Test series against South Africa in the immediate vicinity of the scheduled tour to Australia, the Kiwis had planned to send a separate squad altogether, while the Test side prepared in New Zealand for the series against the Proteas.
NZC and CA are understood to have submitted a proposal to the New Zealand government to find some way around the 10-day quarantine period. However, the NZ government have informed them that they wouldn’t be able to grant any exemption to the returning players. It is also understood that the government has also denied a request to allow the players to undergo home quarantine for the stipulated period.
New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive David White has revealed that the series was finalised after the government announced their intentions of relaxing quarantine rules relating to the Trans-Tasman border. After this setback, the two cricket boards will now discuss plans to reschedule the series. The three-match ODI was also supposed to be old warhorse Ross Taylor’s last international series.
CA chief Nick Hockley has also expressed his dismay at the cancellation of the tour.
“We are extremely disappointed that we won’t be able to play the scheduled matches against New Zealand as planned, however, we will continue to work with New Zealand Cricket to reschedule the series.
We thank NZC, who made every effort to make the series happen, however because they were unable to get certainty over return quarantine arrangements, it is simply just not possible at this time.”
he said.
