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The postponement is the third major incident to affect national cricket this summer.
South Africa’s final round of four-day national franchise matches in 2020 was postponed after a series of Covid-19 cases amid the country’s second wave of the pandemic. The matches will be replayed in 2021, with national cricket on hiatus until the start of the One Day Cup on January 8.
ESPNcricinfo had previously reported that 10 of South Africa’s 16-man squad participated in matches where positive cases of coronavirus were detected, putting their participation for the first test against Sri Lanka in doubt. As a result, with multiple infected players in at least two of the six franchises, CSA could not risk the round that was scheduled to begin Sunday to go ahead.
That means the matches between the Knights and Cobras in Newlands, between the Warriors and Dolphins in Port Elizabeth, and between the Lions and the Titans in Johannesburg will be played at a later stage. All three locations are in provinces where infections are increasing at a higher rate than anywhere else in the country, which is how CSA explained its decision not to go ahead with the games.
“The decision to postpone the next round of four-day matches, which were scheduled for December 20-23, comes in light of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic currently affecting South Africa. Additionally, some of the stadium hosts are at Covid-19 hotspots, “said a CSA statement.
Furthermore, CSA has an eye on the upcoming test series against Sri Lanka and would not want to incur any more infections before it starts, resulting in putting the breaks in the domestic game. Those on the national team, including the 10 who participated in the matches affected by Covid-19, have been screened today and will be screened two more times before they are given the go-ahead to play.
South Africa must go to camp on Saturday, when they will be examined and isolated in their rooms, and training will take place individually for the first 72 hours.
They will then be tested again on Tuesday before the first day of the series next Thursday.
“CSA is committed to mitigating the impact of COVID-19 in the 2020-21 season, and the upcoming two-game test series between South Africa and Sri Lanka is played in a biosecure environment, which is a more controlled space than national competition. “said Graeme Smith, director of cricket.
The postponement of this round of matches is the third major incident to affect national cricket this summer. Six Warriors players were forced out of the first two rounds of competition after two tested positive and four were considered close contacts. The Warriors lost both games.
Then earlier this week, the game between the Titans and the Dolphins was called off after the first day of play when a Dolphins player tested positive for coronavirus. At least five others from the franchise are also infected, as well as two who tested positive before the team traveled to play the Titans, and three others who were close contacts of the player who tested positive on the first day.
No decision has been made on when or if the match will be replayed or if a tie will be declared, with shared points. The other affected game was between the Lions and the Knights, in which a Lions player tested positive on the third day but the game was complete.
Firdose Moonda is a correspondent for ESPNcricinfo in South Africa
