Will Tim Paine and co. put forth a big OUTRAGEOUS demand to tour South Africa?

Australia are slated to travel to South Africa next month for a three-match Test series. However, the schedule for the contest hasn't been finalised yet due to the COVID-19 situation in the country. South Africa has witnessed a significant surge in coronavirus cases, recording thousands of new cases every day throughout the month of December.

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Cricket Australia make wild demand ahead of South Africa tour

The second wave of the virus also affected England's tour of South Africa recently. Multiple fixtures were postponed and subsequently cancelled after a number of players and hotel staff tested positive for the virus. Looking at the deteriorating situation in the country, Cricket Australia have made a wild demand ahead of the tour. 

As reported by The Daily Telegraph, Cricket Australia are likely to demand the hotel staff in South Africa to quarantine for three weeks before the Australian Test squad arrives to ensure the biosecurity bubble is safe. While speaking to Australian scribes on Wednesday, CA’s high-performance boss Ben Oliver said that they are doing everything they can to give the tour every chance to be successful. 

Oliver added that there are a number of fairly significant challenges in running international sport during a pandemic. He further said that they have been fortunate to have relatively low cases of COVID-19 in Australia, however, he acknowledged the unfortunate second wave of this virus in South Africa. Oliver assured that they are working hard with Cricket South Africa to establish all of the protocols that would sit around the environment in which the teams would need to operate.

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Oliver reassured that they are working hard with Australian authorities on making sure that they’ve got clear and safe passage going into and out of South Africa. However, he admitted that there are a couple of key considerations of the tour that they need to work through. Oliver reiterated that they’ll keep the health and safety of their players, staff and community at the absolute forefront of their minds.

Cricket Australia announce Australia squad for South Africa Tests 2021

Cricket Australia on Wednesday announced the Test and T20I squads for the South Africa vs Australia 2021 and New Zealand vs Australia 2021 series respectively that are slated to commence next month. Notably, Australia have named five uncapped players in the 19-man Test squad against the Proteas with middle-order batsman Matthew Wade being axed from the side after his abysmal show against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy that the hosts lost 1-2.

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Wade's exclusion from the Test squad doesn't come as a surprise as the southpaw played all four Test matches against India and could only manage 173 runs across eight innings at a dismal average of 21.62. Among uncapped players, Sean Abbott, Michael Neser and Mitchell Swepson, who were in the Australian squad for the series against India, have retained their places for the South Africa vs Australia 2021 series. On the other hand, Queensland pacer Mark Steketee has earned a maiden Test call up for the series against the Proteas.

Remarkably, Australia's Test skipper Tim Paine, who was under immense scrutiny for his leadership as well as poor glovework against India, has managed to retain his place as the skipper of the side. Other than that, the Test squad is pretty much similar to the one that the Aussies selected against India.

Australia squad for South Africa Tests 2021: Tim Paine (Captain & Wicketkeeper), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.

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SOURCE: CRICKET.COM.AU