SA BOARD ASKS ICC TO INTERVENE AFTER AUSTRALIA PULL OUT OF PROTEAS TOUR

In the aftermath of Cricket Australia’s decision to pull out of South Africa tour, Cricket South Africa (CSA) has requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to consider means of redress for less wealthy nations to make up for financial losses when tours do not take place as scheduled.

Last week, Australia indefinitely postponed its tour of South Africa where the two teams were scheduled to play three Test matches in March citing an “unacceptable” level of risk because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the letter written to the ICC, CSA called Australia’s unilateral decision “against the spirit of sportsmanship”, with implications for the credibility of the World Test Championship (WTC), and raises concerns it will have a “serious impact on the financial well-being of less-wealthy” ICC members, reports ESPNcricinfo.

“There’s got to be some understanding of how we manage the impact to less-wealthy nations,” Stavros Nicolaou, the chairman of CSA’s interim board told ESPNcricinfo. “Unilateral decisions of this nature are punitive to less-wealthy cricket-playing nations and there has to be some discussion around redress,” he added.

As per the report, CSA has not lodged a formal complaint and sent its letter as a means of opening the door to communication about how best to manage the international cricket schedule during the Covid-19 pandemic.

CSA director of Cricket Graeme Smith had termed CA’s decision to pull out of the tour as frustrating.

“We are extremely disappointed by the decision of CA. CSA has been working tirelessly in recent weeks to ensure that we meet every single expectation of CA,” Smith had said in a statement.

“This was set to be the longest tour in a BSE comprising a three-match Test series that was scheduled to begin with Australia’s arrival later in the month. So to be informed about the CA decision at the eleventh hour is frustrating,” he added.

Cricket Australia’s interim CEO Nick Hockley had, however, revealed that an offer was made to host the Proteas for the Test series Down Under but CSA declined, citing other commitments.