“Both teams have wanted to play the calendar as we proposed”
There has been “nothing formal from BCCI” about India being reluctant to play the fourth and final round in Brisbane, said Nick Hockley, chief executive of Cricket Australia, adding that CA has been in “daily” contact with its counterparts. in India and that, as things stand, the series should go on as scheduled.
Speaking to reporters in Sydney on Monday, Hockley said the BCCI was “fully through (and) supportive” of the quarantine requirements in the state of Queensland. “We speak with our counterparts at BCCI on a daily basis. We have not received anything formal from BCCI that suggests anything other than their support,” Hockley said. “Both teams have wanted to play the calendar as we have established it.”
The schedule appeared to have been threatened after reports on Sunday that India was unhappy with the prospect of re-entering strict quarantine for the fourth test in Brisbane. The third test of the four-match series is scheduled to begin in Sydney on Thursday after CA decided not to move the match in the wake of an outbreak of Covid-19 cases on the city’s north beaches. On Monday, the two sides flew to New South Wales, which reported eight new cases of local transmission of the virus and increased social distancing measures on Sunday.
The state of Queensland has closed its border with Greater Sydney and, although an agreement has been reached to allow players to fly to Brisbane for the fourth test on January 15, there is uncertainty about the level of restrictions they would face after having been in Sydney.
Earlier in the day, both groups of players, support staff, and match officials for the ongoing series of tests tested negative for Covid-19. The tests took place on Sunday and the results were announced a day later, after which they traveled from Melbourne to Sydney for the third test of the series which is tied at 1-1.
The SCG test will be played in front of crowds with 25% capacity after a Covid-19 outbreak, which started in Sydney’s North Beaches region and has since spread to other parts of the city, almost forced to CA to withdraw the New Year’s party. of your traditional home. This will involve a hectic refund and refund process with just three days left for testing.
“In response to the public health situation in New South Wales, we are working closely with Venues NSW and NSW Health to implement the appropriate biosecurity measures for our staff, players, match officials, announcers and fans to ensure that we played the third round at SCG safely, “said Hockley. “Reducing venue capacity is crucial to achieving social distancing requirements, and we sincerely thank ticket holders for their patience, as we process refunds today, we reconfigure SCG’s seating plan to implement these social distancing measures and re- the sale . “
The negative tests of the teams were significant considering the possible biosecurity breach by five players from India, which is still under investigation.
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