The Netherlands tour of South Africa is in jeopardy as an emerging Coronavirus variant of concern in South Africa has prompted stricter travel restrictions. The emergence of the new strain, currently dubbed B.1.1.529, has prompted the UK to temporarily suspend flights from South Africa, as well as several other Southern African countries, as quarantine facilities for returning passengers are prepared. Several members of the Netherlands side are contracted to English counties and reside in the UK, which is set to ban non-residents from entry from noon on Friday and enforce a ten-day self-funded mandatory hotel quarantine on any UK and Irish residents arriving after 4am on Sunday morning. With flights already being cancelled, there were concerns in the Dutch camp that some members of the team might even be stranded in South Africa.
The first of the three ODIs will go ahead as planned at Centurion today, but no decision has yet been made on whether the Dutch will remain in South Africa to play the remaining two CWC Super League fixtures after flights resume on Sunday. The fourth wave of the pandemic is expected to peak in the next few weeks and will coincide with a packed summer schedule. The Indian men's team, which refused to play a Test in Manchester earlier this year because of Covid-19-related fears, is due to play three Tests, three ODIs and four T20Is from mid-December - they are scheduled to leave India on December 8 - while the West Indies women's team will tour the country in January ahead of the Women's World Cup. The Indian men's 'A' team is also currently in South Africa, playing the first four-day game in Bloemfontein. They are scheduled to play two more four-day games on the tour. Reuters has reported that the Indian government has issued an advisory to all the states in the country to rigorously test and screen international travellers from South Africa and other countries that are considered at-risk. The report quoted the Indian health ministry as saying that the new variant, identified as B.1.1.529, had "serious public health implications". An unnamed BCCI official, meanwhile, was quoted by PTI as saying, "Look, till we get a detailed picture of the ground situation from Cricket South Africa, we will not be able to tell our next step. As per the current plan, the Indian team is supposed to leave either on December 8 or 9 just after the New Zealand series gets over in Mumbai. "The official indicated that even though players will be sent on a charter flight from Mumbai to Johannesburg, there is a possibility of putting them through three-four days of hard quarantine upon reaching given the changed circumstances.
