InMobi

All countries need to share schedule pain: Finch

Australia's limited-overs captain says countries around the world need to look after each other as part of the game's response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Aaron Finch has called on the international cricket community to weather short-term pain and prioritise the "good of the game" as it maps out a schedule through the COVID-19 pandemic.

A three-match ODI series between Finch's team and Zimbabwe, scheduled to be held in August in northern Australia, has been indefinitely postponed due to the requirement of quarantine periods and costly biosecurity measures for the week-long series.

Finch described Tuesday's confirmation as "unfortunate", adding everyone tried their best to get the Australia-Zimbabwe series up and running.

Cricket Australia remains committed to hosting India this summer and staging a lucrative four-Test series, but Finch is still unclear whether he will lead his country in a home Twenty20 World Cup that is slated to start in October.

Clarity on whether that World Cup will be delayed or scrapped, which is expected to come in July, and new dates for the Indian Premier League will allow boards to start filling their respective calendars with more certainty.

Short tours, such as Zimbabwe's deferred trip plus Afghanistan's mooted one-off Test in Australia this summer, loom as a major financial challenge while quarantine periods remain necessary around the world.

"Whether it's Australia, India, England, South Africa, whichever country; we've all got to get around each other and do what's best for cricket," Finch said.

"That might mean a little bit of short-term pain or not ideal scenarios for a particular country.

"We've just all got to get together and make it work for the good of the game.

"We all want to be playing as much as we can, wherever we can ... but there is going to be a lot of give and take, a lot of compromise."

Finch is hopeful his team will make their coronavirus comeback in September, when Australia could visit England for a limited-overs series.

However, that tour is yet to be locked in as CA officials watch West Indies and Pakistan's preceding trips to England with interest.

"It's a little bit up in the air," Finch said.

"I'm preparing to go to England to play, whether that happens we'll wait and see.

"We just have to be really conscious of being ultra flexible; there might be a tour that comes up on relatively short notice."