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Ind vs Aus: Cricket Australia on alert after Sydney Covid-19 outbreak

Sydney - Sydney will host the third Test of the series.

With an eye on the third Test between India and Australia, starting at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 7, Cricket Australia is closely monitoring the situation after Sydney reported a fresh Covid-19 outbreak.

The state governments are planning to tighten the borders across the nation and force early contingency planning around the SCG Test in the new year.

CA may also think of shifting opener David Warner from Sydney to Melbourne to avoid any potential further border restrictions. Warner is continuing his recovery from the groin injury that ruled him out of the first Test.

According to an ESPNcricinfo report, multiple Sydney-based members of the broadcast production teams in Adelaide were stood down as a precaution on Friday morning, the commentator Brett Lee flew home to Sydney, and three members of the SEN commentary team -- Gavin Robertson, Brad Haddin and Matt White -- left Adelaide.

CA issued a directive to all media covering the Test match to report if they had visited the northern beaches region in the past three weeks. The cluster, centred around Avalon beach to Sydney’s north, is currently at 28 cases and counting, although New South Wales Health has successfully contact-traced all but one of these.

“There’s been lots of discussion 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,” ESPNcricinfo quoted CA’s interim chief executive Nick Hockley as saying to SEN Radio.

“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 really 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 really watch, wait and see and I think the governments around the country have handled the pandemic so well, so we’ll watch, learn and stay in touch,” he added.

Australia and India are currently playing the day-night Test at Adelaide Oval after which both teams will head to Melbourne to play the second Test which starts on December 26. Sydney will host the third Test of the series.