The English cricket team lost the Ashes and the one-day series and now three of the country’s journalists are losing their right to remain in Australia before the close of play.
Cricket correspondent for UK tabloid The Sun, John Etheridge, is one of the reporters who will be forced to leave Australia on Saturday having exhausted a 90-day visa.
It means he will miss the final 50-over fixture in Adelaide on Sunday plus three Twenty20 matches still scheduled for the England team tour.
“We would like very much to have covered those four more games … but we have been advised after a lot of communication through Cricket Australia to the Immigration Department that the matter is now closed,” Etheridge told AAP from Perth where he is preparing to cover Friday’s fourth ODI.
“It seems amazing to us that Cricket Australia organises a tour for 100 days but we can only stay for 90 days.”
Etheridge said he and colleagues Dean Wilson of The Mirror and Paul Newman of The Daily Mail have known of the problem throughout the tour but were told Cricket Australia was confident of resolving the issue.
“It is very frustrating,” he said.
“It kind of offends my sense of professional duty. I want to finish the job. I’ve covered six Ashes tours and I’ve never missed a match.”
Cricket Australia declined to comment on the matter with a spokesman telling AAP it was inappropriate to do so.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison is expected to release a statement.
In his lengthy career Etheridge said he has never encountered such a problem and on previous tours the Australian government approved bridging visas for official media.
“I remember we faced some problems one year getting access to Zimbabwe but even that was sorted out and that was under the (Robert) Mugabe regime,” he said.
The men don’t want to overstay their visas or go through the uncertain process of leaving Australia so they can re-enter and try to secure another 90-day visa.
“We will just have to cover (the final matches) from the TV at home which is far from ideal.”