England’s One-Day International series against South Africa has been cancelled after reported breaches of the teams’ bio-secure environment in Cape Town, Sky Sports reported on Monday.
The tour has been postponed and not called off completely as the series is part of the ICC Super League which serves as the qualification process for the 2023 World Cup and both boards intend to play the series later.
The decision was made after there were three postponements in four days for the opening ODI of the series, which had originally been scheduled to take place at Newlands on Friday, before two failed attempts to stage it at Paarl on Sunday, and at Newlands again on Monday.
In a joint statement, the chief executives of both boards cited player welfare as a primary concern in the decision to abandon the tour, with players understood to be uneasy about recent developments and the fact that the bio-secure bubble had been breached.
The statement said: “The decision was taken jointly by the two boards to ensure the mental and physical health and welfare of players from both teams. CSA and the ECB will now work together to determine when the three-match series, which forms part of the ICC Cricket Men’s Super League, can take place in the future.”
Kugandrie Govender, CSA’s acting CEO, said: “The concern over the mental health impact of recent events on all involved is not one that we as CSA or the ECB take lightly and the decision to postpone the tour is the most responsible and reasonable course of action for us.
“I would like to thank the ECB for the continued positive relations and we look forward to hosting the England team in the near future.”
