England to play limited-overs series in South Africa

Friday, 23 October 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Cape Town (Reuters): England will travel to South Africa for a four-match limited overs tour starting in late November, with all matches to be played without spectators in Cape Town and nearby Paarl, Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirmed on Wednesday.

CSA has received government approval for the tour, which will consist of three One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals between Nov. 27 and Dec. 9, with the players to first face a 10-day quarantine period.

CSA acting chief executive Kugandrie Govender said the governing body had drawn on the experience of England, who recently hosted Ireland, the West Indies, Pakistan and Australia in bio-bubble environments, to develop their own plans.

“This is a first for us and we commit to learn quickly and with great responsiveness as we have an action-packed international season ahead of us,” Govender said in a media release from CSA on Wednesday.

“The fact that England are the current (ODI) World Cup champions will add tremendously to the two series and will give our own players every motivation to perform at their very best to challenge the reigning champions.”

Chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Tom Harrison, confirmed that the team would fly to Cape Town on a chartered flight and praised the plans of CSA for the bio-bubble.

“I would like to personally thank Cricket South Africa for their efforts in ensuring this tour goes ahead and their diligent work to create an environment that is safe for our players and staff,” he said.

“They are working tirelessly to pull together a bio-secure plan in Cape Town and Paarl.

“We owe it to the sport that we do everything we can to keep international competition progressing during this pandemic.”

England also toured South Africa in February. The three-match ODI series was draw 1-1, but England claimed the T20 honours with a 2-1 win.