Zimbabwe’s three-match ODI series with Australia scheduled for August 9-15 was postponed indefinitely by mutual agreement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Cricket Australia and Zimbabwe Cricket have agreed to postpone the ODI series scheduled to be played in Australia in August due to the coronavirus pandemic. The two boards will seek new dates for the deferred series as soon as practically possible,” Zimbabwe Cricket said in a Twitter post.
The series had a number of challenges to overcome in order to take place, including its length, the massive bio-security measures to be put in place before the series’ start, and the health and safety concerns of players, match officials, and volunteers.
This would have been Zimbabwe’s first tour of Australia since a tri-series in 2004, excluding their participation in the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
“We were excited about facing Australia but, given the circumstances, deferring the tour was the only option,” Acting Zimbabwe Cricket Managing Director Givemore Makoni said.
Cricket Australia also reaffirmed its commitment to working on alternative dates to reschedule the series, which was due to be played in northern Australia.
This is the fourth series of Zimbabwe to be affected since the onset of the pandemic. The other three series involved Afghanistan, India and Ireland.
Cricket, like sport in general, has been adversely affected by the pandemic. However, Zimbabwe Cricket recently announced some positive news that it was debt-free after repaying $27 million in arrears.
