Australia's proposed tour of South Africa has been postponed, thus implying that Australia cannot finish ahead of New Zealand on the World Test Championship points table.
Australia’s three-Test cricket tour of South Africa has been postponed due to the “public health situation” in the African country, according to a press release by Cricket Australia on Tuesday.
“Due to the public health situation in South Africa, which includes a second wave and a new variant of the virus, and following extensive due diligence with medical experts, it has become clear that travelling from Australia to South Africa at this current time poses an unacceptable level of safety and health risk to our players, support staff and the community,” the release said.
We acknowledge the significant amount of work by CSA in planning for the tour, during which we made it clear that CA was prepared to take on additional cost and effort to make the series happen.
“This decision has not been made lightly and we are extremely disappointed, especially given the importance of continuing international cricket at this time, our valued relationship with CSA, and our aspirations to compete in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship.”
This will mean that Australia can’t finish ahead of New Zealand on the WTC ladder. After their loss to India in Brisbane, Australia sits third on 69.2 per cent of total points contested, with the Black Caps second on 70 per cent and India leading on 71.7.
New Zealand’s WTC schedule is over and they can’t slip below 70 per cent, but India can if they suffer defeats to England in the four-Test series starting this weekend.
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