New Zealand Cricket has moved several home international fixtures for the Black Caps and White Ferns in order to mitigate the risk of an Omicron outbreak.
The immediate changes will see the South Africa men's side remaining in Christchurch for the entire duration of its visit, playing both its scheduled tests at Hagley Oval rather than decamping to Wellington for the second match, as initially scheduled.
Other alterations will see the White Ferns' short-form series against India (one T20 and five ODIs) played solely at John Davies Oval in Queenstown, Australia's three T20s against the Black Caps hosted in Napier (subject to MIQ availability), and the Netherlands men's tour split between Mount Maunganui (one T20 and one ODI) and Hamilton (two ODIs).
NZC chief executive David White said the venue changes were just one part of a contingency plan designed to safeguard the health of all participants, and to reduce the chance of matches or series being jeopardised by an outbreak.
"These risk mitigations are based on avoiding known Covid-19 hotspots, and include limiting air travel, limiting accommodation transfers and, essentially, operating in safer environments," said White.