You could see Cricket Australia’s position. South Africa, for all its charms, does not look like much of a place to visit just now as it tries to loosen the grip of a more contagious COVID variant scarcely seen here yet. The Australian government advises against going there.
If you were looking for other agendas, you could see that Australia had more reason to make the tour than not. By reneging, they’ve virtually played themselves out of the inaugural Test championship final at Lord’s in June. It has been one of their priorities this year. The Border-Gavaskar might not be the only trophy Australia lost on that extraordinary last day at the Gabba.You could see why an Australian player might hesitate to insert himself into a COVID-19 hot spot right now.
You could argue that it’s their choice and they’re well paid for it yada yada, but that does not ameliorate the everyday four-walls reality. Look at the tennis players who jacked up about two weeks of it. You could see how South Africa’s offer of un-impregnable isolation might have sounded as much like a sentence as a reassurance.
If they go make them wait in line to come back. It is only about $$$$ for rich crickerts who are grossly overpaid.
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