West Indies, Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh have all confirmed they will tour New Zealand during the southern hemisphere summer, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive David White said yesterday.
Under the International Cricket Council’s Future Tours Programme, West Indies were scheduled to play three Tests and three T20s in New Zealand, while Pakistan will play two Tests and three T20s.
The five Tests form part of the World Test Championship.
Bangladesh were due to play both one-day international and T20 series and Australia will round out the season in a three-match T20 series against New Zealand next March. “We’re making tremendous progress,” White told reporters yesterday.
“Just on the phone actually to the West Indies, they are confirmed. Pakistan have confirmed, Australia and Bangladesh. So, 37 days of international cricket. We’ll go through the detail of that in due course.”
New Zealand has managed to largely contain the spread of the novel coronavirus and has held a national rugby competition in front of big crowds over the last couple of months.
White also confirmed that the ‘White Ferns’ women’s cricket team will tour Australia in September and reciprocate by hosting the Southern Stars in February, when New Zealand would have been staging the postponed 50-over World Cup.
He said NZC would be looking at the biosecurity model being used by England to host test series against West Indies and Pakistan and were discussing details of quarantine for incoming teams with the New Zealand government.
“It’s a lot of cricket,” he added. “We’ll just be held up for a week or two while we work with the government agencies on the managed isolation but they’ve been tremendously supportive and making really good progress.”
Haven’t gone this long without playing any cricket, says Taylor
Veteran New Zealand cricketer Ross Taylor conceded yesterday that he has not gone this long without playing cricket since his high school days.
The Kiwis haven’t featured in an international game since March due to coronavirus pandemic. Taylor, who last month took part in New Zealand’s first training camp at the Bay Oval, accepted that safety of everyone remains paramount in these unprecedented times.
“Yeah, it has been a strange time all around,” Taylor was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
“I haven’t gone this long without playing any cricket since I was in high school. So, yeah obviously, isolation and all those other things are a little bit strange, but it is what it is.”
Taylor is currently in Trinidad to take part in the 2020 edition of the Caribbean Premier League, which is scheduled to take place from August 18 to September 20. He will be donning the jersey of Guyana Amazon Warriors this season.
“You know it’s going to be strange for everybody at the CPL. Nobody has played international cricket for a while, so everyone is going to be nervous, I’m sure. So, the training and early games are very important,” Taylor said.
“The atmosphere in Twenty20 cricket is a lot of what you play and we get the best crowds in that format. So, to play in front of nobody but knowing that people at home will be watching and cheering us on, it’s going to be a bit strange, but at the same time something that we’re going to get used to,” he added. (IANS)
Ross Taylor
