JOHANNESBURG: Cricket South Africa has lodged an official complaint with the ICC against Cricket Australia for its indefinite postponement of Australia’s Test tour of South Africa, which was to happen next month.
CSA had slammed its Australian counterpart for the decision, stating it was “extremely” disappointing and that it would lead to “serious financial loss”. The postponement virtually knocked it out of contention for the World Test Championship final later this year.
Last week, CSA wrote to both the ICC and CA expressing its dissatisfaction at the tour being pushed back, also asking for means of redress after CA cited an “unacceptable” level of Covid-19 risk in South Africa as the reason for not travelling. But now, CSA has escalated the matter and asked for it to be heard at the ICC’s dispute-resolution council.
In a letter sent by acting CEO Pholetsi Moseki, seen by ESPNcricinfo, CSA is invoking both the World Test Championship (WTC) and the FTP agreement terms in search of points on the WTC table, as well as financial compensation from CA. It has asked the ICC to look into whether CA’s cancellation amounts to acceptable or unacceptable non-compliance as per the WTC terms, bearing in mind that the series cannot be rescheduled before the end of the WTC window, which is April 30, 2021. It also wants the ICC to obtain a report on the health situation in South Africa to determine if Australia breached the terms by not travelling.
As per ICC’s FTP terms and conditions, member nations have an obligation to fulfil their commitments barring special circumstances, including government instruction. Citing a clause from WTC terms, Moseki wrote that it was for the independent experts from South Africa to decide the severity of health risks that forced Australia to postpone its tour.
“It would seem inappropriate to appoint a health and safety consultant outside of South Africa given that such an expert consultant would be unlikely to properly and accurately comprehend the COVID-19 related risks within South Africa and how they may be adequately managed,” Moseki wrote.
“Given the nature of the pandemic, it will inevitably require location-specific advice.”
