England’s white-ball tour of South Africa has been given the go-ahead to take place next month.
Eoin Morgan’s side will play three T20s and three ODIs against the Proteas in fixtures to be staged behind closed doors in Cape Town and Paarl.
It will be the first overseas cricket played by an England team since the coronavirus pandemic began. England returned home from their tour of Sri Lanka early in March as the Covid outbreak set in and played summer series against West Indies, Pakistan, Ireland and Australia on home soil.
South Africa have not played international cricket since early March, though several of their star men are currently playing in the Indian Premier League, this year being held in the UAE.
England will depart for the tour on November 16 on a chartered flight after the South African government granted the team a travel exemption and will stay in a bio-secure bubble similar to those used to facilitate international fixtures this summer, commuting to each match.
They will play intra-squad warm-up matches at their Cape Town base before the T20 series begins on November 27, with the ODI series following on December 4. A squad for the tour is expected to be announced early next month.
Tom Harrison, ECB’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are looking forward to touring South Africa. I would like to personally thank Cricket South Africa for their efforts in ensuring this tour goes ahead and their diligent work to create an environment that is safe for our players and staff. They are working tirelessly to pull together a bio-secure plan in Cape Town and Paarl.
“We owe it to the sport that we do everything we can to keep international competition progressing during this pandemic.
“Series against the Proteas are always exciting and intense. We saw that earlier this year in South Africa and we can expect the same this time around.”
