Strikers versus Scorchers match expected to start without delay despite haze from Adelaide bushfires
After their opening BBL09 game was called off due to bad air quality, Adelaide Strikers’ Monday night match is expected to start without delay. That is despite smoke haze from the weekend’s bushfires engulfing Adelaide.
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South Australian Cricket Association expects tonight’s Big Bash League home season opener between Adelaide Strikers and Perth Scorchers to start, despite thick smoke engulfing Adelaide.
The Strikers’ first match of the season against Callum Ferguson’s Sydney Thunder in Canberra on Saturday was abandoned four overs into the Thunder’s innings due to dangerous air quality, brought on by the New South Wales bushfires.
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SACA will check Adelaide air quality – affected by ongoing blazes in the Adelaide Hills – until the scheduled 6.40pm start of play.
A regular medical briefing held one hour before play, then further assessments at the bat flip and immediately prior to the scheduled start will determine if players take the field.
Cricket Australia is also monitoring the NSW bushfires given the abandonment of the Canberra BBL game and New Year’s Sydney Test inside two weeks away.
Match officials can debate suspending play when the air quality index approaches 300.
Any cancellation of tonight’s game would be a massive blow to SACA, with Strikers games routinely attracting 40,000 fans.
Leg-spinner Liam O’Connor has replaced Peter Siddle in the Strikers’ squad, with the seamer on Test duty in Melbourne.