South Africa women not to tour England in September
Johannesburg [South Africa], Aug 18 (ANI): Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Tuesday informed the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that they will not be able to accept the invitation to tour the UK to play against England women in September due to the international travel regulations in place for South African national teams.
CSA said a High-Performance squad of 24 players was selected in preparation for the proposed tour. The players were expected to meet on August 16 at the Powerade High-Performance Centre in Pretoria for their second training camp but will now continue one-on-one training at their respective Provinces.
"A revised training schedule will be announced in due course," CSA said in a statement.
This is the third Proteas tour to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Australia were scheduled to travel to South Africa in March; however, the tour was cancelled as a preventative measure before the Proteas' visit to the West Indies was postponed in May.
CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith expressed frustration but admitted that the safety of players and staff is their 'prime consideration'.
"It is frustrating that another opportunity for our Momentum Proteas to play against top-quality opposition has again had to be cancelled but as always the safety of our players and support staff is the prime consideration," Smith said in a statement.
Whereas, ECB said everything is in place for them to be able to host international women's cricket in a bio-secure environment.
"Everything is in place for ECB to be able to host international women's cricket in a bio-secure environment and we continue to have multiple discussions with a number of international boards about potential women's tours," ECB said in a statement.
ECB Managing Director of Women's Cricket, Clare Connor said: "We are immensely disappointed that we are not yet able to confirm fixtures for England Women this summer due to India and South Africa being unable to travel."
"We have been committed from the outset to deliver the same bio-secure standards for both men's and women's international cricket, an investment that included exclusive hotel use for teams, chartered flights and medical provisions," Connor added. (ANI)
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