Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirmed on Thursday (October 06) that the England men's cricket team will tour South Africa in January and February to play 3 ODIs. The series was previously postponed after a COVID-19 infection outbreak in the South Africa camp in late 2020.
CSA also announced the dates and venues for the series, with the first two games will be played at Bloemfontein's Mangaung Oval on January 27 and 29, and the final ODI will be played on February 1 at Kimberley Oval.
However, the series will be in conflict with the brand-new domestic SA20 tournament that South Africa will be launching at the same time in early 2023. The franchises involved have signed several English cricketers including the likes of Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, and Liam Livingstone.
The tour will coincide with the start of the new 33-match SA20 league on January 10, although it is expected that the ODIs will take place between the conclusion of the T20 league’s group stage and the beginning of its playoff round.
Given South Africa's perilous position in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 qualifiers and the necessity for points to guarantee automatic qualification, the series will now go ahead despite the conflict with the domestic tournament.
In order to hold the SA20, South Africa forfeited 3 ODIs against January which would have been played in January itself and would have also counted toward qualification.
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On Thursday, it was also revealed that South Africa would play 2 additional ODIs, against the Netherlands in Benoni on March 31 and at Wanderers in Johannesburg on April 2.
They were scheduled to take place in December of last year but were postponed due to the COVID-19 virus' Omicron variant outbreak.
South Africa will also host West Indies in two tests at Pretoria from Feb. 28-March 4 and Johannesburg from March 8-12 as they seek a place in the World Test Championship final. There will also be three ODIs against the Windies, although they will not count towards World Cup qualification and three T20s.
(REUTERS INPUTS)
