Crowds will be banned from Australia’s one-day cricket series against New Zealand with the series to be played behind closed doors because of coronavirus. Cricket Australia took the drastic step on Friday, just hours before the series opener at the SCG.
Another match is due for the SCG on Sunday, before another game in front of an empty stadium at Blundstone Arena in Hobart next Friday. A women’s tour of South Africa for next week has also been suspended, making it the first major international cricket series affected since the outbreak of the virus.
“We have taken strong action today in the face of an unprecedented public health issue,” Cricket Australia boss Kevin Roberts said. “We believe this is the right decision to minimise the risk of public exposure to the coronavirus, which the World Health Organisation declared a global pandemic on Thursday.
“We understand that these changes to our schedule will impact many, but we hope our community will understand that the public health and safety issues caused by the coronavirus must take priority over sport at this time. This is not an issue specific to cricket.”
Australia’s men also have a tour of New Zealand planned for later this month, with no decision made on that trip yet. Those tours are the only Australian international matches in the short-term future, with the Indian Premier League also in serious doubt for later this month.