Newlands’ New Year’s Test canned, but double-delight for the Highveld
And while nothing has been said, there may be a slim chance that a reduced number of fans would be allowed in at SuperSport Park and the Wanderers.
The Wanderers in Joburg will host the New Year’s Test this season. Picture: Getty Images
Cricket South Africa announced on Tuesday the big news that both festive season Tests this season will be played on the Highveld, but what their press release left undisclosed was the reason for the New Year’s Test being shifted from Cape Town for the first time in more than a century.
Newlands has been the host every time South Africa has played a New Year’s Test at home since January 1, 1914, when England clinched their 5-match series with a 91-run win in the third Test, at the Old Wanderers.
But this Christmas, due to Covid-19 and the need to play in a bio-bubble, Sri Lanka will play the Boxing Day Test against the Proteas at SuperSport Park in Centurion starting on December 26, with the New Year’s Test beginning on December 3 at the new Wanderers Stadium.
The costs of setting up a bio-bubble for just one game in Cape Town were deemed to be too much, with Sri Lanka and the Proteas able to stay in the same place for their two Tests over the festive season, which makes financial sense, especially with no spectators expected to be allowed to attend. England are paying for a substantial portion of the bio-bubble for their white-ball series against South Africa in a month’s time, and they insisted on staying in Cape Town.
“It’s great for our brand and for our sponsors, so it’s a really great thing to be the host from that point of view, but we are sad that we won’t see any fans here at the Wanderers,” Jono Leaf-Wright, the CEO of the Central Gauteng Lions, told The Citizen on Tuesday.
“We are thankful and excited that Cricket South Africa have chosen us as hosts. It certainly wasn’t something we planned for at the start of the year.
“But with the Boxing Day Test happening at Centurion, it means the players can stay and travel from the same place, plus Cape Town will have the England series. If even a reduced number of fans are given the go-ahead to attend then we will be ready to go. We’ve geared ourselves to be ready for whenever fans can return and all safety measures are already in place.”
While only the Proteas fixtures up to that second Test against Sri Lanka were confirmed on Tuesday, that is certainly not the sum total of their summer. CSA revealed that Australia and Pakistan would also feature during the summer.
Australia will arrive for three Tests in February/March, which will undoubtedly be the pinnacle of the season, while a Pakistan tour comprising three ODIs and three T20s will end the summer.
South Africa are also scheduled to tour Pakistan in January for the first time since 2007, with CSA saying a delegation leaves for the subcontinental country at the weekend to do a security assessment.
Fixtures
England tour
Friday, 27 November (6pm): 1st T20I Newlands, Cape Town
Sunday, 29 November (2.30pm): 2nd T20I Boland Park, Paarl
Tuesday, 1 December (6pm): 3rd T20I Newlands, Cape Town
Friday, 4 December (1pm): 1st ODI Newlands, Cape Town
Sunday, 6 December (10am): 2nd ODI Boland Park, Paarl
Wednesday, 9 December (1pm): 3rd ODI Newlands, Cape Town
Sri Lanka Tour
Saturday, 26-30 December (10am): 1st Test SuperSport Park, Centurion
Sunday, 3-7 January (10am): 2nd Test Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.
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