‘Growing issue’: Officials plan for smoke ahead of Sydney Test

As bushfires continue to ravage NSW, ICC regulations have helped officials navigate a problem that has never been encountered in the history of cricket played in Australia.

Smoke from the NSW bushfires blanketed the Sydney Cricket Ground during a Sheffield Shield between NSW and Queensland recently. Picture: Phil Hillyard

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Bushfire smoke is threatening Sydney’s showpiece New Year’s Test with Cricket Australia on high alert after a Big Bash match in Canberra was abandoned due to poor air quality.

Bowler Peter Siddle - who joined the Test squad in Melbourne - bowled two overs in that BBL match and was then treated for smoke inhalation.

“If you sit next to a campfire, just imagine that, that’s what it felt like out on the field,” Siddle said.

ICC regulations are helping officials navigate a problem that has never been encountered in the history of cricket played in Australia.

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Smoke from the NSW bushfires blanketed the SCG during a Sheffield Shield match between NSW and Queensland recently. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Research has uncovered that one day in every 10 is “proving a challenge” due to smoke in Sydney – leaving a 41 per cent chance that the January 3-7 Test against New Zealand could be affected.

While a cloud of smoke engulfing an SCG filled with 40,000 spectators would be alarming for fans, it is the 13 players on the field faced with the biggest health risks.

That is because they are exercising and, along with the umpires, are also most likely to get hit by a cricket ball due to poor visibility. But asthmatic fans would also be at a heightened risk.

Strikers captain Alex Carey said the air “didn’t taste too good” and his team included a few asthmatics, who were assessed by the team doctors.

“It’s a growing issue that we’re seeing around the country, certainly Sydney and Canberra mainly,” CA head of operations Peter Roach said.

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The Sydney Thunder-Adelaide Strikers at Manuka Oval was called off. Picture: Getty Images

“But what we’re finding is it comes in quick but also goes quick. It’s unlikely we believe it’ll be there for a full day.

“We might see some challenges across that day, but we’ll play it like rain or adverse weather. Time can be added on.”

Roach said match officials got it right by calling off the Sydney Thunder-Adelaide Strikers clash just four balls before enough cricket had been played to lodge a result.

That match will be used as “a good marker” for future games.

“We’ve got a lot of data from the weather bureaus to say when things get dangerous, but what we’re seeing is the visibility seems to be the most obvious thing,” Roach said.

“What we’re finding, and all the science will back this, is the participants are more prone to that (health risks) because they’re exercising at the time.

“We hope (we don’t lose play), but potentially. What we’ve seen in Sydney and Canberra, as we saw the other night was that it does get to a point where it becomes a challenge.

“One day in 10 on average is proving a challenge, we hope that doesn’t come in the Test match. But we also understand it might.

“This hasn’t been a challenge for Australian cricket in the past. They’ve (the ICC) got some regulations we’ve based our thinking on.”

The air quality rating at a recent Sheffield Shield match hit 170, although some feared it was even worse, and conditions were lashed by players.

Spinner Steve O’Keefe said if he had kids they would’ve been locked inside that day. ICC guidelines state that play can be suspended when the rating approaches 300.

Originally published as ‘Growing issue’: Officials plan for smoke ahead of Sydney Test