South Africa's tours of the West Indies and Sri Lanka, which were scheduled for later this year, have been postponed indefinitely.
The tour of the Caribbean was meant to happen in July and August. Two Tests and five T20Is had been scheduled.
The tour of Sri Lanka was due in June. Three ODIs and three T20Is were going to be played.
Cricket South Africa director of cricket Graeme Smith, however, has confirmed neither tours have been rescheduled.
“West Indies has been postponed indefinitely. We are struggling to find a time with the Indian Premier League being fitted in. It looks like our players are going to be needed from the beginning of September, government-permitting, and travel permitting,” said Smith.
“Sri Lanka also postponed. I expect that once things get up and running, our team, on the men's side, I would say from November onwards, if all goes well, it will be a really busy period for South African cricket, probably playing in times that we haven't played before and trying to cram in a lot of the missed tours.”
Resumption of International Cricket
The IPL and Caribbean Premier League will be the first major cricket tournaments to take place amid the coronavirus pandemic. Last month, England hosted the West Indies for three Tests. This month, England and Pakistan will play three Tests and later a T20I series in the United Kingdom.
After the West Indies lost to England 2-1, captain Jason Holder implored England to reciprocate the visit with a tour of the Caribbean.
“If something doesn't happen soon we'll see less international cricket being played by smaller countries because we simply can't afford it. We've gone from having four, five-match series, down to two and three. And it's very difficult to host any more than that for us, particularly the Caribbean,” said Holder.
“So yeah, it is a serious dilemma that we're faced with. I think the relevant personnel really need to sit down and have a look at it.
“We only really make money from England, and I think India. We break even with Pakistan and Australia, and all the rest of the series we play are losses. But in these trying times only England, Australia and India can probably host cricket. Outside of that, the smaller territories are struggling financially to get cricket on.”
