Domestic 50-over tournament delayed after border closures

The start of the women’s domestic 50-over season has been postponed for a second time, with border closures forcing a change to the schedule.

The first round of seven matches, due to be begin on January 15, has been pushed back and will now be played between February 28 and March 7.

A call has yet to be made on the second round of the competition, due to start on January 25, while the final remains scheduled for March 27.

Click here to see the full WNCL schedule

Two second-round matches between NSW and Victoria, scheduled for Junction Oval on January 27 and 29, are the next obvious fixtures under threat.

NSW Breakers had been slated to play their first game against South Australia at Adelaide’s Karen Rolton Oval on January 15, but are currently locked out of the state after SA introduced a hard border to all travellers from NSW.

Their second game against ACT Meteors was scheduled for January 19, but the territory has also banned all non-residents from entering if coming from Greater Sydney or other affected areas.

Victoria were due to start their season against Tasmania in Hobart and while that border remains open, it is in a precarious position given the recent outbreak in Melbourne.

Rescheduled WNCL matches

• Tasmania v Victoria, Blundstone Arena, January 15 Rescheduled to February 28
• South Australia v NSW, Karen Rolton Oval, January 15 Rescheduled to February 28
• Western Australia v ACT, WACA, January 15 Rescheduled to February 28
• Tasmania v Queensland, Blundstone Arena, January 17 Rescheduled to March 7
• Western Australia v South Australia, WACA, January 18 Rescheduled to March 3
• ACT v NSW, EPC Solar Park, January 19 Rescheduled to March 7
• Victoria v Queensland, Junction Oval, January 19 Rescheduled to March 5

The WNCL had already been pushed back from its usual September start, and the latest delay extends the break for Australia’s best female players, who were last in action at the elite level in the Rebel WBBL that wrapped up in late November.

With an ODI World Cup scheduled for early 2022, this summer’s WNCL is a prime opportunity for players to press a case for selection in the Australia 50-over squad, and players will be anxious for a full season to go ahead.

CA hopes that rescheduling the first round to later in the season will allow for that to happen.

"The changes to the WNCL schedule have been made to give us the best possible chance of completing a full season," Cricket Australia’s Head of Cricket Operations Peter Roach said.

"We’d like to thank the State and Territory Associations, players, staff and the ACA for their flexibility and understanding as we navigate the challenges of the pandemic on our summer schedule."

The KFC BBL, which is being played in a bio-secure bubble, survived Western Australia's border closure to Victoria, with the Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Sixers to play under police directions, while the Sixers and Thunder had left NSW well before the current outbreak began.

However, the closure of borders to NSW in late December means the Breakers squad are currently stranded in Sydney until restrictions ease.

Unlike the WBBL, which had a full 59-game season played entirely inside a Sydney bubble across 35 days in October and November, the WNCL schedule features four rounds of matches – with all seven teams hosting games – spread out over 2.5 months.

It means squads will return home between rounds, making it unfeasible for the Breakers to endure two weeks of quarantine in order to play their two first-round one-dayers as scheduled.

The WNCL is not the first domestic competition to be impacted by border closures; Victoria’s men played just two Marsh Sheffield Shield matches during the first half of the season in Adelaide due to complications arising over quarantine requirements.

The Shield has since been reduced from 10 to nine matches per team, while the men’s one-day competition does not start until February 16.

Cricket Australia confirmed last week that the women’s home ODI series against India that was originally scheduled for later this month has been moved to next season, where it will play a crucial role in Australia’s World Cup preparations.

However, Australia have been in talks with Cricket New Zealand about a proposed trip across the Tasman in February or March to fill the gap left by the delayed tournament, with England also likely to be involved.