New Zealand's tour of Australia, scheduled for January 24 to February 9, was in doubt and it's confirmed that it will not happen for now. (More Cricket News)
The BlackCaps on Wednesday released a statement, saying that the tour "has been postponed until further notice, due to the lack of certainty over when the squad will be able to return to New Zealand."
New Zealand has seen a huge ramp-up in coronavirus cases at the border, and the Managed Isolation And Quarantine (MIQ) process is under more pressure than before in the country.
"Despite a proposal from New Zealand Cricket and Cricket Australia to extend the length of the tour so that the BLACKCAPS could return home at a time more manageable for the MIQ process, the Government confirmed today it had no capacity to meet the request," the release added.
"Discussions are now continuing with CA over when the postponed fixtures will be played."
The BlackCaps were supposed to leave for Australia on January 24 to play ODIs on January 30 in Perth, February 2 in Hobart and 5 and Sydney, and one T20 International at Canberra on February 8.
“As we now know, the advent of Omicron prompted a change of heart from the Government, resulting in a hard 10-day mandatory isolation period being imposed on all incoming travellers,” said NZC chief executive David White.
The tour was initially scheduled last year after the New Zealand government signalled its intention to relax MIQ restrictions relating to the trans-Tasman border.
“NZC and CA had explored a proposal to expand the tour and to push out the date on which the squad might return to New Zealand, in the hope that might be more achievable for the Government.
“But we received advice this morning that they could not provide certainty over this, either.”
New Zealand just hosted a two-match Test series against Bangladesh and settled for a 1-1 draw. The Aussies completed their Ashes engagement with a 4-0 series win against England.
