Australia’s decision to cancel South Africa Test tour labelled ‘spineless’

South Africa has launched a scathing attack on Australian cricket in the wake of the decision to cancel the Test tour.

Interim CA boss Nick Hockley is under fire over the decision to cancel the tour

Australian cricket’s reputation in South Africa has hit a new low with the decision not to play Test matches in that country labelled spineless, hypocritical and dishonest.

Leading South African commentator Neil Manthorp has launched a scathing attack on Cricket Australia and its players, over last week’s decision not to postpone the tour.

Cricket South Africa is also reported to have written to the ICC claiming the decision not to tour was “against the spirit of sportsmanship” and would have a “serious impact on the financial wellbeing” of less wealthy nations.

Cricket Australia dismissed the allegations, claiming deadlines were not met, details not provided and the safety of the tour was not guaranteed, while players who spoke to The Australian rejected suggestions they did not want to tour.

CA said its decision was based on medical advice after a presentation was made by the high-performance department to its board.

Six other nations are playing Test series in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh this week and the decision not to tour South Africa has robbed Australia of a chance to guarantee a start in the World Test Championship final.

It is hard to imagine Australia’s reputation being any lower in South Africa than it was after the sandpaper incident, but indications are that is the case regardless of the validity of the claims.

“It is becoming increasingly obvious that cricketing relations between the countries will take years to heal and the remaining scars will last even longer,” Manthorp wrote.

“If Cricket Australia’s last-minute cancellation of the tour was merely spineless and callow, it might have been excusable. But there was a background of cynicism based on what looked and sounded like casual prejudice. It transpired that there may also have been plenty of hypocrisy, selfishness and dishonesty to complete the recipe.”

Manthorp, a veteran South African journalist, alleges South Africa was forced to meet a number of changing demands from Australia who were never satisfied and kept “moving the goalposts”.

South Africa claims it met “at huge cost” Australia’s insistence they have an entire country club to themselves during the tour, despite the facilities being shared in the past.

They then agreed to move the quarantine period for staff from two weeks to three prior to the team’s arrival.

Australia allegedly asked for permission to bypass the international airport and land at a non-commercial airport, which was eventually agreed to. When it was discovered the Australians would be flying in a larger aircraft, an alleged request to use a private terminal at the main airport which was granted.

Australia claim South Africa missed deadlines and did not have the staff to complete the arrangements.

Manthorp claims the South African Health Minister Dr Zweli Mikhize agreed the tourists would be “guaranteed preferential treatment” while other reports state they would have access to private medical facilities.

Manthorp repeats claims the hosts — who are in significant financial difficulty — also agreed to buy an expensive track and trace system for the tour.

Cricket Australia told The Australian there were still eight outstanding items to be resolved despite an extension of the deadline being granted.

A spokesman said CA had not asked for exclusive use of the resort but it had been offered by CSA, as was the use of a private airport.

Australia claimed that clearances for the landing at the international airport had not been granted, despite the extension of deadlines.

It also said the decision to buy the trace and track system was South Africa’s and was not suggested by them although they provided details of it to a working committee.

Manthorp says it is hypocritical of Australian players to participate in the IPL in April, but players say the decision not to tour was not theirs.

Almost 50,000 have died from the coronavirus in South Africa with new cases peaking at more than 20,000 a day at the height of the pandemic’s second wave over Christmas.

Australia asserts there were issues with repatriating any staff or player who contracted the virus and CA chief executive Nick Hockley said the tour was impossible.

“We’ve done everything we possibly can to make the tour go ahead but in the end we had to listen to the overwhelming medical advice,” he said last week.

The discovery of a more highly contagious variant of the virus emerging in the country caused alarm in the Australian camp.

Early reports suggest the AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against mild forms of the South African variant, but players were not going to be vaccinated before the tour.

A tour of Zimbabwe by Ireland in March has been indefinitely postponed after the hosts warned it was impossible because of the COVID situation in that adjoining nation.

Australia has gained a reputation for being dismissive of obligations to host or tour poorer cricket playing nations over many decades while always keen to play wealthy nations such as India and England.

Stavros Nicolaou, the chairman of CSA’s interim board, has reportedly written to the ICC and CA about the decision and raised the possibility of some redress for money wasted planning the tour and lost by its cancellation.

“The reasons Australia cited seemed out of kilter with where the pandemic is,“ Nicolaou told Cricinfo. “If we had got this communication from them in December it might be justified. The downward trajectory, even with the so-called South African strain, has shown a 75 per cent reduction from the peak.

“Our preference would have been to ask for a consultation and we would have got the necessary experts on the call and explained the downward trajectory and we could have given assurances about the biosecure base. The decision should have been consultative and we would have seen what other measures we could have taken.”