Tuesday, 2 March 2021:
 | | AARON FINCH of Australia. | |
|
Cricket Australia will bring their T20 side home from New Zealand on a charter flight to avoid players quarantining for a second time in a month.
Aaron Finch's side are currently playing a five-game series against the Black Caps in New Zealand.
The players toured on the understanding they would need to quarantine for two weeks on the way in - but not on the way home.
However, a COVID-19 outbreak in Auckland changed the scenario for the touring party.
The outbreak prompted Australian authorities to declare Auckland a "red zone" - meaning stepping foot in the city would require them to quarantine on arrival home.
New Zealand Cricket then changed the schedule, moving matches from Auckland and Tauranga to Wellington.
That only solved one part of Cricket Australia's (CA) problem as they were still due to fly out of Auckland on Monday.
While CA is yet to announce the charter solution, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) inadvertently did so on Tuesday night.
NZC announced a schedule change to the fifth game, in Wellington on Sunday, advising a new start time of 12 noon to "allow the Australia squad to catch a charter flight home immediately after the game - and avoid having to transit through Auckland".
As COVID-19 alert levels are due to be reviewed on the weekend, NZC has also left open the prospect of a crowd attending.
