Cricket South Africa might be forced to play their ‘home’ games against Australia in Perth, Western Australia due to the coronavirus situation.
England’s cancellation of their two ODIs in South Africa due to the coronavirus is snowballing into some massive ramifications for Cricket South Africa. Sri Lanka, who are expected to tour the country for Two Tests by the end of December, might opt to cancel the tour as the coronavirus situation and the viability of Cricket South Africa’s COVID-19 protocols comes under scrutiny. Now, there is a major development when it comes to South Africa’s next major Test assignment which will be the three Tests against Australia which are scheduled around February-March 2021 and part of the ICC World Test Championship. Due to the coronavirus situation, the series might be played in a ‘neutral’ venue. According to an ESPNCricinfo report, the three Test-series might be played at the WACA in Perth in February 2021. The report stated that both Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa are talking about playing the series in Perth as the western time zone makes it quite amenable to South Africa. For example, a day/night Test at the WACA would be likely to start play between 8am and 9am in South Africa.
The issue of broadcast rights and revenue are the major points that need to be discussed for the move to take place. Apart from Perth, there has been emphasis on the UAE as a neutral venue for the Test series. The UAE hosted Pakistan for Tests for a period of six years as their ‘home’ venue while it successfully managed to host the IPL 2020 in a bio-secure environment. However, with the composition of both sides consisting of pacers, the conditions in the UAE might not suit them and that is the reason why South Africa are planning their ‘home’ series in Australia in a ‘neutral’ venue in Perth.
Coronavirus situation in Western Australia
The coronavirus situation in Western Australia has come under control with no new cases being reported for the last couple of weeks. Western Australia sealed the borders when the coronavirus first came in January 2020 and their quarantine rules were very strict. Only last week, Western Australia opened the borders for New South Wales and Victoria.
If the South Africa vs Australia series is not played in Perth, then it will be the first time since 1970s that Perth has not hosted an international game. Cricket is set to come back to Perth with the Big Bash League. The WACA has also not hosted much of international cricket due to the new multi-purpose stadium at Bursewood that has a bigger capacity. The first Test that was played at the venue was against India in 2018 while South Africa have also played an ODI there.
South Africa have a marvelous record in Perth, having not lost a single Test there. It was at the WACA where South Africa achieved the second-highest chase in Test history when they chased down 414 in 2008 thanks to centuries from Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers. South Africa has won three consecutive series in Australia in 2008/09, 2012/13 and 2016/17. In their last series in 2018, South Africa won at home for the first time in 48 years against Australia in a series marred by the infamous ‘sandpapergate’ controversy involving Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.
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 "Australia vs South Africa")
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