Hard quarantine rules force postponement of New Zealand's white-ball tour of Australia

New Zealand's white-ball tour of Australia, consisting of three One-Day Internationals (ODI) and one T20 International (T20I) scheduled to be played between January 24 and February 9 has been postponed. 

This decision comes in the wake of players and support staff having to undergo a 10-day hard quarantine upon returning to New Zealand and with the rise in Omicron cases, the government is unwilling to budge with regards to this rule.

"As we now know, the advent of Omicron prompted a change of heart from the NZ Government, resulting in a hard 10-day mandatory isolation period being imposed on all incoming travellers," NZC Chief Executive David White said.

"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. Unfortunately, we received advice this morning that they could not provide certainty over this."

Both NZC and CA are now in discussions as to when the series can be played.

"We are extremely disappointed that we won't be able to play the scheduled matches against New Zealand as planned, however, we will continue to work with New Zealand Cricket to reschedule the series," Nick Hockley, CA CEO, said 

"We know fans will be disappointed and thank them for their understanding given the unique circumstances that the global pandemic presents for everyone.

"We look forward to welcoming Sri Lanka to Australia next month and will confirm the schedule for that series as soon as possible."