Cricket South Africa (CSA) has confirmed that they will still travel to Australia in December. However, they will not be playing the Baggy Greens in the scheduled three-match One-Day International (ODI) series in January 2023.
Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed the news in a statement early on Wednesday morning.
“CSA had asked CA to reconsider the dates of the three matches originally set aside for January 12-17 due to a clash with their new franchise T20 league,” said the statement.
“But, CA announced today they have been unable to find alternative dates to reschedule the series.”
PROTEAS WITHDRAWN FROM ODI TOUR TO AUSTRALIA 🚨
CSA had asked the hosts to reconsider the dates originally set aside for January but Cricket Australia announced they have been unable to find alternative dates
Read more 🔗https://t.co/bqmlVdIMTl#BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/blTcxyHrzY
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) July 13, 2022
In a statement released by CSA, Chief Executive Officer, Pholetsi Moseki said that they always try to honour bilateral commitments. However, sometimes “unforeseen circumstances” would negate this resolve.
“In the case of the Australia tour, CSA reached out to its counterpart months ago to reschedule the tour to mutually agreeable dates,” Moseki said.
“CSA offered four options to that effect. Unfortunately, and to our disappointment, none of these was acceptable to Cricket Australia.”
Easy points for Australia
This will see the Proteas lose out on important Super League points.
The Super League determines who will directly qualify for the 2023 Cricket World Cup. At the moment, the Proteas are in 11th place in this standings list.
The top eight teams will earn direct passage into the World Cup. The five teams at the bottom of the log will have to go through a qualifying tournament.
“CSA has agreed that ICC award Australia the competition points. While we are saddened at losing the crucial points, we are confident that our in-form Proteas team will garner the requisite points through the remaining games to secure automatic qualification to the showpiece event in India next year,” Moseki confirmed.
T20 vs ODI
CSA has taken a stance. Their hopes of having a successful T20 League of higher importance than qualifying for the World Cup.
“As difficult as this decision has been for CSA, the long-term sustainability of our new T20 League is reliant on having all our domestic players available for this exciting new addition to the CSA calendar.
“CSA is looking forward to be hosted by Cricket Australia for an enticing blend of cricket in the Three-Test series which includes the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests in Melbourne and Sydney,” concluded Moseki.
What is to come
Proteas schedule for the rest of the year;
ODI Series vs England: 19, 22, and 24 July
T20 Series vs England: 27, 28, and 31 July
T20 Series vs Ireland: 3 and 5 August
Test Series vs England;
First Test: 17-21 August
Second Test: 25-29 August
Third Test: 8-12 September
T20 World Cup;
v. TBD: 24 October
v.Bangladesh: 27 October
v. India: 30 October
v. Pakistan: 3 November
v. TBD: 6 November
Test Series v Australia;
First Test: 17-21 December
Second Test: 26-30 December
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