South Africa women's tour to West Indies postponed amid coronavirus pandemic
May 13, 2020
Johannesburg [South Africa], May 13 : Cricket West Indies (CWI) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Wednesday agreed to postpone the women's ODI series, scheduled to begin at the end of the month in Jamaica and Trinidad, as well as the Men's 'A' team series slated to commence in Antigua in June.
The five-match ODI women's series was scheduled prior to the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier in July. However, following South Africa's automatic qualification (having finished third in the ICC Women's Championship) and in response to the ICC's announcement on Tuesday of the postponement of the Women's Qualifier Tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CWI and CSA have agreed to postpone the tour.
Both cricket governing bodies have also agreed that due to the uncertainty of international travel, quarantine requirements, and the health and safety of both teams that the 'A' Team tour should also be postponed.
CWI's CEO Johnny Grave said the health and safety of the players and coaching staff is of paramount importance to both CWI and CSA.
"The health and safety of the players and coaching staff is of paramount importance to both CWI and CSA and with the current COVID-19 travel restrictions it is impossible for us to consider both tours taking place as we had originally planned. We are continuing our discussions with CSA on the feasibility of hosting the Men's tour later this summer and will have further discussions in due course on new dates for the Women's and 'A' Team tours," Grave said in a statement.
On the other hand, CSA's acting CEO, Jacques Faul said it is frustrating but there are more important issues that have to be confronted.
"It is a frustrating state of affairs in which cricket finds itself around the world but there are more important issues that have to be confronted and the wellbeing of our players and support staff must always come first. Both our men's and women's national teams are keen to get back on the playing field as soon as possible," he said.
