New Zealand postpone tour of Australia indefinitely

Christchurch, January 19: New Zealand tour of Australia, initially scheduled for January 24 to February 9, has been postponed until further notice, due to the lack of certainty over when the squad would be able to return to NZ.

Despite a proposal from New Zealand Cricket and Cricket Australia to extend the length of the tour so that the Blackcaps could return home at a time more manageable for the MIQ process, the Government confirmed on Wednesday (January 19) it had no capacity to meet the request.

Discussions are now continuing with CA over when the postponed fixtures will be played.

NZC chief executive David White said the tour was initially scheduled last year, after the government signalled its intention to relax MIQ restrictions relating to the transTasman border.

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

"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.

"But we received advice this morning that they could not provide certainty over this, either," he added.