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Pietersen says ‘really dark time’ in cricket after Australia postpones SA tour

He also asked why England pulled out of SA tour but went ahead with Sri Lanka series

kp-kevin-pietersen [File] Former Engalnd captain Kevin Pietersen | AFP

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has posed some serious questions regarding postponement of Australia’s tour of South Africa after Cricket Australia on Tuesday decided to pull out of playing against the Proteas citing “unacceptable health and safety risk” to players.

Pietersen called it a “really dark time” in cricket and questioned CA on Twitter if the board would have made the same decision had the tour been in India.

In the same tweet, he also questioned England and Wales Cricket Board’s decision to withdraw halfway through the South Africa tour last year over COVID-19 concerns, but go ahead with the Sri Lanka series despite some players testing positive for the coronavirus during the tour.

Moeen Ali had tested positive for COVID-19 while on tour, but the series went ahead, with England winning the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka 2-0.

“No way @CricketAus would have not played India in a Test tour. It’s a really dark time in the world of cricket with CA cancelling their tour of @OfficialCSA,” the former captain tweeted.

“@englandcricket also pulled out of SA due to Covid issues, but players test positive in SL and tour goes on?!” he added.

Cricket Australia’s chief executive officer Nick Hockley, in a statement, said that it had become clear that “travelling from Australia to South Africa at this current time poses an unacceptable level of health and safety risk to our players, support staff and the community”.

“This decision has not been made lightly and we are extremely disappointed, especially given the importance of continuing international cricket at this time,” he added.

Later, he said that the board did everything possible to go ahead with the tour, including offering to host South Africa in Australia, but it wasn’t feasible.

England are currently in India, with the two teams scheduled to play the first of the four-match Test series that will begin on Friday in Chennai.

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