Cricket Australia on high alert after fresh COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney

Cricket Australia has gone on high alert after a fresh COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney. As the number of COVID cases reached 28, it has also impacted the broadcasters with former Australia pacer and commentator Brett Lee deciding to return home in northern Sydney.

Lee does not have any symptoms of COVID and he has flown back just as a precautionary measure.

Two Sydney-based members of the broadcaster have also returned home, while two more will work from the hotel.

On the other hand, three members of the SEN commentary team covering the first Test, have left Adelaide.

Cricket Australia though assured that this will not impact the third match of the series in Sydney, even as they continue to closely monitor the situation.

“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,” CA’s interim chief executive Nick Hockley told SEN Radio.

“We’re monitoring the situation; we’re not panicking at all, staying calm... ... 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.”

Asked if the SCG Test was in doubt, Hockley said: “I don’t think so - this is the very reason why we have the hubs in place...

“... whether it’s the WBBL players, the BBL players, the BCCI, our own Australia squads, they have been absolutely 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.”

Hockley said that there are contingency plans in place and next three days will be crucial.

“If the game can be played safely (in Sydney) then we’ll play it there. That’s our starting point, so it’s working with the health authorities to ascertain that,” he said.

“We started out thinking how to play the full series as safely as possible, and we’ll take the same approach over the coming days and weeks.”

“We’ve got contingency plans around a whole range of different options, and we’ve had to be agile all the way through. We were encouraged that it was 17 cases yesterday and ten today, and we’ll see how that plays out over the next 72 hours.”