South Africa To Host England, Australia, Pakistan In 2020-21 Season

Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Tuesday announced a busy international programme for the men's team, comprising home international fixtures for the 2020/2021 season against England, Sri Lanka, Australia, and Pakistan. All these series will hold crucial points in either the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League (CWCSL) or the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).

The international season of South Africa will begin with a three-match T20I and three-match ODI series against England in Cape Town and Paarl. After that, Sri Lanka will follow with a two-match Test series in Centurion and Johannesburg. The fixtures will fall into the traditional Boxing Day and New Year's Test match windows.

"We are delighted to announce the schedule of men's international cricket for the home season. It is an absolute pleasure to deliver more good news for our cricket-loving fans to consume, following last week's confirmed tour against England and domestic season launch," CSA Acting CEO, Kugandrie Govender said in an official release.

"The COVID-19 pandemic predictably forced many changes to the ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP) and the traditional sequencing of scheduling matches in South Africa this season. This is why I am particularly proud of today's announcement. It comes as a result of many hours of dedication, negotiation and hard work by individuals behind the scenes to ensure that our fans have an exciting line-up of cricket to look forward to throughout the summer and although the matches will be played behind closed doors, we will have enough entertainment to make them feel as though they are a part of match-day activities," she added.

Australia will then arrive in February 2021 for a three-match Test series ending in March and then Pakistan will round off the South African summer of cricket with a three-match ODI series and three-match T20I series. Complete fixtures for these tours will be announced in due course.

CSA has also confirmed that it has appointed a delegation that will perform a security assessment on the feasibility of the Proteas embarking on their first tour to Pakistan since 2007.

The delegates will depart this weekend and will report back on their findings for the tour, which is scheduled for early 2021.

"Finally, I would like to express my gratitude and thanks on behalf of CSA, to the boards of England, Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan for their agreement to these tours and assisting us in bringing the beautiful game to the South African public under the 'new normal' that COVID-19 has presented us. I am certain that we will be thoroughly entertained by very competitive displays of cricket," Govender concluded. 

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