The Blackcaps' upcoming limited-overs tour to Australia has been officially postponed.
The New Zealand side were scheduled to take on the Aussies in a three-match one-day international series and one-off Twenty20 international. The squad was due to leave on Monday, with the first ODI to be played at Perth on January 30.
The tour was initially scheduled last year in anticipation of relaxed restrictions on the trans-Tasman border, meaning no managed isolation quarantine spots had been booked.
Despite a proposal from NZ Cricket (NZC) and Cricket Australia (CA) to extend the length of the tour to allow the Blackcaps to return home at a more manageable time for MIQ availability, the NZ Government has confirmed it could not meet the request.
That proposal involved remaining across the ditch and relocating March's return leg of the series from New Zealand.
NZC and CA are currently discussing when the postponed fixtures could be played.
"As we now know, the advent of Omicron prompted a change of heart from the Government, resulting in a hard 10-day mandatory isolation period being imposed on all incoming travellers," says NZ Cricket chief executive David White.
"NZC and CA had explored a proposal to expand the tour, and to push out the date on which the squad might return to New Zealand, in the hope that might be more achievable for the Government, but we received advice this morning that they could not provide certainty over this either."
With no MIQ spots reserved, the return three-match T20 home series in New Zealand in March is now in doubt, unless trans-Tasman border restrictions are eased in late February - as per the Government's plans - to allow the Australians entry.
White is cautiously optimistic the tour will proceed.
"We're hoping, in two month's time, that the borders might be relaxed, so the players can come here to play," White tells Newshub. "We've just got to be fluent, we've got to be flexible and just work within the Government parameters."
The Blackcaps won't play again until the two-test series against South Africa, which starts February 17 at Christchurch.
White confirms squads from South Africa and the Netherlands - who arrive for a limited-overs tour in late March - have MIQ spots booked and have exemptions to train during that period.
