New Zealand Confirm Home Series Against West Indies, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Australia Amid Pandemic

New Zealand Cricket (NZC), on Tuesday, stated that Pakistan, Australia, Bangladesh and the West Indies had all confirmed they will tour during the upcoming home season, despite the coronavirus pandemic. NZC announced that a total of 37 days of international cricket has been scheduled during their upcoming home season.

International cricket finally resumed last month when West Indies toured England for a three-match Test series. At present, England are involved in a three-match Test series with Pakistan. England had also played a three-match ODI series against Ireland.

On the other hand, New Zealand have not played any international game since their ODI series in Australia was called off in March in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. They played the first ODI in empty stadium before the series was called off.

But with the world slowly returning towards normalcy, NZC are fancying their chances of hosting Pakistan, Australia, Bangladesh and the West Indies. NZC chief executive David White said managed isolation arrangements for the visiting teams were still being worked out with officials in Wellington, but the tours would proceed.

“I was just on the phone to the West Indies, they’re confirmed, Pakistan is confirmed, Australia and Bangladesh, so (there will be) 37 days of international cricket,” he told reporters.

At the same time, he declined to release schedules of the tours until details had been worked out. White said arrangements were likely to follow the model of bio-secure “bubbles” adopted in England for their ongoing home season. England have arranged for teams’ accommodation and training facilities at the match venue to isolate players.

“We’re working through that with the government agencies at the moment, a similar concept… the agencies have been really supportive, the government’s been fantastic,” he said.

All international arrivals into New Zealand are currently required to spend at least 14 days in strictly supervised quarantine. However, people in New Zealand are enjoying quite a normal lifestyle with no social distancing and spectators allowed at sports and cultural events.

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