Cricket Australia (CA) on Wednesday refuted that it was only interested in lucrative series against India and England after cancelling next month’s test tour of South Africa over COVID-19 concerns.

The withdrawal drew a strong response from Cricket South Africa, which expressed outrage at the “eleventh hour” decision amid extensive work to build bio-secure bubbles for visitors, AFP reported.

Also Read: As bubble life drags on, psychologists say cricketers need better support

CA interim chief executive Nick Hockley defined the pull out as “heartbreaking” insisting that the COVID-19 situation in South Africa gave the Australians no alternative.

“We share their disappointment, we’ve all worked to make this tour happen,” he told reporters. “At the end of the day, the weight of medical advice and our duty of care to players and staff meant we were really left with no alternative.”

South Africa is the continent’s worst-hit region, with 1.5 million infections detected and more than 44,000 deaths.

Hockley said that CA had tried to host the series in Australia, where the virus was largely contained, but schedule clashes and the need for quarantine meant that it was not practical for the South Africans.

He hoped that the three-match series could be rescheduled, but said that no preparations have yet been made.

After the pandemic struck, Australia has also dropped the series against the West Indies, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and New Zealand.

Also Read: England’s tour of India 2021: Full schedule

However, they recently hosted a money-spinning series against India and traveled to England for limited-over matches, with Joe Root’s men expected to travel Down Under later this year for the marquee Ashes series.

Hockley refused that financial factors had played a part in Australia’s scheduling decisions during the pandemic.

“I’d refute that in the strongest possible terms,” he said.

“We have done absolutely everything we possibly can to make this tour happen. It’s a very difficult situation in South Africa just now, that’s what makes it even more heartbreaking that we are not able to go.

“We would love to go but the medical advice says it’s not safe to do so. We want to play cricket, we want to support world cricket.”