Australia looking to reschedule South Africa tour "as soon as possible"

Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley has stated that Australia will look to reschedule its postponed tour to South Africa as soon as possible, but only if the health situation and cricketing calendar allow.

Australia were set to play a three-match Test series in South Africa in March-April. The visitors even announced their 19-man squad for the tour. However, the series was postponed due to the pandemic situation in the Rainbow Nation.

Cricket Australia interim chief executive Nick Hockley said both cricket boards are in the middle of "constructive discussions" regarding the possibility of a future tour.

"We would like to reschedule it as soon as possible, providing it is safe to do so, and there is time available in the calendar; now, that’s not a simple task. Through the pandemic and quarantine periods, there is a lot of cricket that has been rescheduled. But we’re right in the middle of constructive discussions, and hopefully, those discussions will be resolved soon,” Hockley told Nine Network-owned newspapers.

JUST IN: @CricketAus has cancelled the upcoming Test tour of South Africa #SAvAUS https://t.co/cu0mcxc8DI

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 2, 2021

The move to postpone the series clearly angered the financially-stricken Cricket South Africa (CSA), as it incurred significant expenses to meet the safety demands for the series. The CSA even wrote to the ICC for financial redress.

Graeme Smith urges ICC to show leadership

Graeme Smith has admitted that CSA's relationship with Australia is "strained."

South Africa's Director of Cricket Graeme Smith urged the ICC to ensure smaller nations get their fair share of action against the so-called "big three" of India, Australia, and England. Smith also warned that the T20 leagues would get bigger if smaller nations didn't get to play enough international cricket.

"The game needs leadership right now that understands the complexities. I don't think world cricket wants just three nations competing against each other in 10 years' time. How does that benefit the game? It would amplify the [Twenty20] leagues, and they will get bigger and bigger, and probably the rest of the member nations will have little or no [international] content," Smith said last month.

The move to postpone the South Africa tour also hurt Australia as they didn't get a chance to make it to the ICC World Test Championship final. They had to depend on the result of the India-England Test series. With Virat Kohli's side winning 3-1, the Aussies were knocked out of the race as India set up a summit clash with New Zealand.

Today we informed Cricket South Africa that we believe we have no choice but to postpone the forthcoming Qantas Tour of South Africa due to the coronavirus pandemic. Full statement 👇 pic.twitter.com/mYjqNpkYjp

— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) February 2, 2021