Cricket Australia, in agreement with Zimbabwe Cricket, announced on Tuesday that the one-day international series that was due to be played in August has been postponed, the ICC website reported. The tour has been postponed indefinitely, becoming the latest series to be pushed ahead due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ODIs were originally scheduled to be played on 9, 12 and 15 August. The release from Cricket Australia said that factors were considered before deciding to postpone the series were – the short length of the series, the significant bio-security measures that would need to be implemented prior to August, and concern for the health and safety of players, match officials, and volunteers. While we are disappointed to postpone the series, CA and ZC agree that in the best interest of players, match officials, volunteers as well as our fans, that this is the most practical and sensible decision, said Nick Hockley the interim CEO of Cricket Australia. We are committed to working with Zimbabwe Cricket on alternative dates to reschedule. Givemore Makoni, the acting managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket, also stated that the two boards are working closely on rescheduling the series. We were excited about facing Australia but, given the circumstances, deferring the tour was the only option. We are, however, looking forward to the rescheduling of the series as soon as practically possible, he said. Zimbabwe has been preparing for the tour to Australia for some time, although there were always fears that the coronavirus outbreak would scupper the tour. The southern African nations cricketing fortunes have been on the wane for a while and tours to the bigger cricketing countries have been few and far in between. The Australian tour would have been beneficial for Zimbabwe, as it was a chance to show that the country was still a force to reckon with. Afghanistan is due to visit Zimbabwe either in July or August.

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