Ashes 2021-22: Cricket Australia on alert as Omicron variant threatens summer schedule
Back-up plans are being put in place as cricket officials prepare for the Omicron variant to disrupt the summer’s blockbuster schedule.
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Cricket is holding its collective breath and nerve that Omicron won’t tear apart the fragile fabric of its Ashes schedule.
South Australia kept its borders open on Saturday, which means the Adelaide Test is safe – at least for now – while Tasmania has also provided assurances that it would not put restrictions on Australian and England players should it be approved to host the fifth Test.
If COVID-19 dramas, sparked by fears over the new variant, were to stop the teams from being able to travel from state to state, Sydney and Melbourne would likely become the two bankable venues to ensure the series could be completed.
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But at this stage Cricket Australia is comfortable the Adelaide Test and Big Bash matches in Adelaide will remain unaffected.
However, Adelaide Oval crowds are set to be capped at 35,000, which is 65 per cent capacity, for the December 16-20 Test.
Only double-vaccinated fans will be permitted to attend although the crowd limit has been boosted since 26,500 (50 per cent) were allowed through the turnstiles for the AFL preliminary final in September.
Meanwhile, the Tasmanian Government has written to Australian Cricketers Association boss Todd Greenberg to guarantee players will be able to move around Hobart like normal citizens if it is successful in stealing the Test from Perth.
Tasmanian Government officials confirmed on Saturday that it was still unwaveringly pushing ahead with reopening borders on December 15 as vaccination rates in the state climb over 86 per cent.
As revealed by News Corp, Hobart is understood to be the favoured option by CA to win the fifth Test ahead of the MCG – although no decisions have been made and there are several moving parts, not least of all the latest impacts of the virus.
Melbourne has been pumping up the financial windfall Cricket Australia could expect if it awards the MCG a second Test match this summer, but Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein on Saturday kept pressure on CA officials by declaring the decision over the fifth Ashes Test shouldn’t be about money.
“Cricket Australia have a choice – they can do the right thing, make history and strengthen the game for the next 100 years or they can take the cash and improve their bottom line this year,” Gutwein said in a statement to News Corp.
Life would be easier for broadcasters Fox Cricket and Channel 7 if the Test was at the MCG, and some reports have suggested England would prefer the last Test to be in Melbourne – but ultimately all would jump on board with Hobart provided there are no Covid restrictions.
News Corp understands CA officials do believe sharing the love and giving Hobart a Test is the right thing to do and want to make it happen.
Hobart lost a Test against Afghanistan at the start of the summer through no fault of their own and to give them their first Ashes Test would honour the game’s Federation model – with bidding wars for marquee matches more the domain of the football codes than cricket.
It appears certain Perth will lose its Test due to the strict border restrictions in Western Australia, although Cricket Australia is yet to make it official following a board meeting on Friday.
Given the fifth Test isn’t scheduled to start until mid-January, Western Australia officials are unhappy Cricket Australia hasn’t given them as long as they allowed Sydney last summer to prove itself fit to host its Test.
LET’S MAKE HISTORY: TASSIE’S PITCH FOR ASHES TEST
Ben Horne and Brett Stubbs
Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein is challenging Cricket Australia to “create history” and reward his state with an Ashes Test for the first time.
His call comes as Hobart firms to steal the fifth Ashes Test from the MCG in what would be one of the great David over Goliath victories.
Cricket Australia had a board meeting on Thursday and has another on Friday where Perth may be officially axed from the schedule due to Western Australia’s uncompromising border restrictions.
Melbourne has been built up as the favourite to assume the fifth Test due to the $30 million temptation of being able to sell out the MCG coliseum for the second time in the summer as a day-night Test.
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But News Corp understands Hobart is looming as Cricket Australia’s preferred option, with the Tasmanian Government pushing hard to steal a historic Ashes Test.
A final decision has not been made – and the MCG will still have further opportunities to push their case – but it’s understood Hobart is in the box seat as it stands now to host the fifth Test as a likely day-nighter at Blundstone Arena.
“This is CA’s opportunity to make history,” Mr Gutwein said.
“We’ve never had an Ashes Test in Australia and importantly the Ashes are the pinnacle of Test cricket.
“We’ll have the biggest travelling show, which is Test cricket here, and importantly the biggest travelling circus, which is the Barmy Army.”
He would not declare how much the Tasmanian Government was willing to put on the table, but said once the Perth Test was canned, he was ready to sit down with CA and start negotiations.
Broadcasters are pushing for a second pink ball Test in the Ashes schedule as compensation for losing the Perth Test which beams into the east coast as a prime time Test match anyway.
There is nothing in the tour conditions to stop a second pink ball Test being added, and it’s unlikely England would object to Hobart as a venue, provided the local Government has lifted current Covid restrictions by mid-January which is the state’s plan.
Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan has stated cricket would have to fall in line with a strict 14-day quarantine to play the Test in Perth, although WA officials are still miffed that their mid-January Test might be taken off them in early December, when last summer Sydney was given until the 11th hour to prove itself fit to host the New Year’s Test.
If Cricket Australia sticks to its guns and backs in Hobart, it would be to their credit because they would have sacrificed up to $20 million in potential revenue to honour its Federation model of sharing matches around the states.
However, Mr Gutwein disputed how much a second Test in the same city during the same series would generate.
“if they were to run a second Test in either of those two states, I think it is a given that they just simply wouldn’t get the same take up in terms of seats that they would sell (for one),” he said.
“But here in Tasmania, we would take our ground to the capacity we can under Covid rules (currently 10,000), but importantly as a government we would be prepared to support the Test occurring here.”
While the NRL and AFL have turned their Covid grand finals into bidding wars, CA is currently resisting that temptation despite the financial windfall it would bring in cash-strapped times.
Hobart lost the Afghanistan Test at the start of the summer through no fault of their own, after CA were forced to take a stand over the Taliban shutting down women’s cricket in that country.
There were fears Tasmania’s bid for the Test may have fallen over after Tim Paine’s shock resignation robbed its pitch of the sentimental appeal of giving the captain a farewell Test on home soil.
Tasmania lashed Cricket Australia publicly for their handling of the Paine saga, but that doesn’t appear to have hurt Hobart’s chances.
Government officials wrote to cricket’s players’ association boss Todd Greenberg in a bid to try and get the players on board with Tasmania’s bid.
The Victorian Government will still push hard for CA to shift its thinking and choose the MCG, where 60,000 fans could be attracted for the first three days under lights.
The NSW Government has been less aggressive in its push for a second Test in Sydney, but is open to hosting a day-nighter if CA needed it to.
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