Australia’s Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka will be played from February 11 to 20. Dettol Twenty20 series will be played in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne in a bid to minimise movement during the latest COVID-19 outbreak.
Cricket Australia confirmed on Thursday that matches would not be played in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Adelaide, as previously scheduled.
Under the initial fixture, the SCG was due to host the first game before the Gabba, Metricon Stadium, Adelaide Oval and the MCG followed.
However, the SCG will now host the first two matches on February 11 and 13, before one game is played in Canberra on February 15 and the final two at the MCG on February 18 and 20.
The changes come after New Zealand’s white-ball tour of Australia was postponed on Wednesday, just a week before the Black Caps were due to land.
The short notice of the postponement has left CA without a back-up option, with too little time to organise replacement fixtures with another nation.
Some thought was made that Zimbabwe could play their postponed series in place of New Zealand, however, that is deemed too difficult in the current climate with visa and COVID-19 requirements.
Another option suggested by the likes of Andrew Symonds has been an Australia v Australia A series, in a throwback to the quadrangular tournament both teams featured in during the 1994-95 summer. (Via BorderChronical)