Crash: Will Cricket Australia officials fight as hard for Brisbane as they did for SCG Test?

Australia has learnt the hard way being on the right side of the argument with India does not mean you win it, Robert Craddock writes.

Will Marnus Labuschagne and company make it to Brisbane for the Fourth Test? The Gabba needs a post-Christmas miracle. Picture: AAP

Christmas may be gone but Queensland cricket officials must be hoping they can have one last wish granted.

It’s simply that Cricket Australia officials fight as hard for the fourth Test to stay in Brisbane as they did for the third Test to stay in Sydney.

Honestly, it was as if lives were at stake last week when the fate of the Sydney Test was on the table.

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If you had said to CA’s top brass they would have to drain Sydney Harbour to save the Test they would have shouted “man the buckets … and if that doesn’t work we will just drink it.’’

Cricket Australia officials fought tooth and nail to save the Sydney Test — will they do same for Brisbane? Picture: Phil Hillyard

It set an impressive benchmark for what can be achieved with a collective will.

Queensland officials are hoping this same relentless zest shines through now that India are threatening to avoid the fourth Test at the Gabba due to strict biosecurity protocols which demand players stay at their team hotel when they are not training or playing.

Who do they think they are … Dannii “Special Exemption’’ Minogue?

Queensland health boss Dr Jeannette Young is not giving an inch and you cannot blame her given the state’s sturdy course through the pandemic.

But, significantly, she has confirmed that Indian players will be allowed to mingle with each other and not be room-bound at the team hotel.

The tour has been a tough slog for the bubble-weary Indians. Picture: Getty Images

That may be enough to break the deadlock for at home and on tour many of the Indians are hotel-bound anyway. It’s the room isolation they will not tolerate.

It’s easy to paint the Indians as the villains but they have pushed through many hurdles to make this tour a success and are at the end of their tether.

It’s not just CA’s problem. Queensland must pull its finger out in the way that NSW did. Make phone calls. Stay connected with the government. Give this Test every chance.

It’s totally understandable bubble-weary Indian cricketers would want to avoid a system where they would be consigned to their rooms if they were not training or playing – but if they had any problems they should have said so last week when the issue was being thrashed out.

Australia has learnt the hard way being on the right side of the argument with India does not mean you win it.

Most arguments Australia has with India these days it loses for in cricket, money equals influence and India has both.

There have been whispers the Indian team may be reluctant to visit Brisbane not so much because of COVID but more of a “green fever’’ allergy to a bouncy deck they have never won on and one which Australia has not lost on for 31 years.

It cannot be totally ruled but this widely travelled Indian team, even with three fast bowlers missing, are as suited to green decks as any team in Indian history.

It is true though that Sydney, if it spins, suits them much more because they bowl it and play it extra well.

The COVID world has seen some strange events but a rejigged schedule which would see Sydney host two Tests – perhaps without crowds – and Brisbane none would be one of the oddest.

A week ago COVID-challenged Sydney seemed unlikely to host a Test and Brisbane was ending a year in which it became the safe haven for a multitude of distressed Australian sports.

Suddenly it could become no man’s land.

The world’s gone mad.