Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey

CA on high alert after rise in COVID cases in Sydney | Cricket Australia is Monitoring the Situation in Sydney with rise in COVID cases

Cricket Australia (CA) has recently spoken about how they are on alert when it comes to monitoring the situation in Sydney and the rest of the country where Test matches will be held. There has been a new COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney’s northern beaches where 83 cases are now confirmed.

The outbreak could negatively impact the scheduled Test matches in Australia, but according to CA, they are still confident that the protocols in place will allow the Test matches to still push through despite the situation.

Biosecure bubbles have ensured that cricket matches in different parts of the world this year can push through. The Indian Premier League and the Big Bash League were both able to continue this year because of the bubbles. BBL is still on-going and thanks to that fans still have something to look forward to. Big Bash odds in India are well-searched as the country is one of the biggest cricket fans out there.

However, the threat that the recent outbreak in Australia poses is now bothering many. This isn’t the case to CA, according to its interim chief executive, Nick Hockley who recently spoke to SEN Radio. Hockley said that CA isn’t panicking but are rather monitoring the situation.

“There’s been lots of discussions and meetings of our medical experts, but this is the reason why throughout the summer we’ve had our players in bubbles in the hub. We’re monitoring the situation; we’re not panicking at all, staying calm. Adelaide, a few weeks ago we had that pizza-shop outbreak and through that process, we worked very calmly to get the players in Adelaide on a charter plane, out of Adelaide within 24 hours and that saved the summer.”

“We’ve got the Sydney Test and the BBL in NSW after that, so the fact we’re here in Adelaide, we’ve got the next Test in Melbourne.” It’s a watch, wait, and see the situation, according to him. He further said, “I think the governments around the country have handled the pandemic so well, so we’ll watch, learn and stay in touch.”

He also said that the SCG Test was not in doubt. Well, at least at this stage. Hockley explained that he doesn’t think that the SCG Test is in doubt at all. He said, “I don’t think so – this is the very reason why we have the hubs in place. It’s been interesting as we’ve worked through to almost zero community transmission, we’ve had lots of questions about do we need the hubs. Over recent weeks they’ve not been about protecting people against coronavirus as much as getting tangled up. We knew there were going to be cases pop up, so not getting caught up in this web of people having to go into isolation.”

He emphasized how the players in different leagues are sticking to the protocols. Hockley said, “Whether it’s the WBBL players, the BBL players, the BCCI, our own Australia squads, they have been fantastic in dealing with all the protocols. Our medical experts have been working around the clock, we’re in very good communication with health authorities around the country. It’s one of the things we’ve had to navigate with getting cricket up safely.”

Meanwhile, it has been reported that the former Australian captain and ABC commentator Ian Chappell is now in isolation. This is because Chappell is a resident of the northern beaches in Sydney. He is now in self-isolation in his hotel in Adelaide as directed by the SA.

SA’s health directive requires all individuals who have spent time in high community transmission zones since December 11 to self-quarantine immediately for 14 days in a suitable location. They will also have to be tested for COViD-19.

Aside from Coppell, Australian cricketer, Mitchell Starc is also going through the same thing as he is also a resident of the northern beaches. In fact, Starc would have been forced out of the Test match if he hadn’t gone in isolation since December 11.

Australia’s captain, Tim Paine, talked about Starc’s status and if there was any conjecture around Starc. Coach Paine said that there was some conjecture but he was asleep when this was all happening.

Paine further said, “We went through the appropriate channels and everything was checked off and approved by the time I got up… about 10 AM today. I know our manager and coach were working very busily behind the scenes to get all the information.” Still, Starc was able to be part of the match on day 2.