Australia v India: Adelaide Oval to keep Test despite COVID scares
Over 100,000 fans are set to walk through the Adelaide Oval gates with the venue all but locked in for the day-night blockbuster.
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Cricket has weathered South Australia’s COVID crisis, and looks set to welcome in around 100,000 fans for the first Test at Adelaide Oval.
Administrators are confident that despite another positive case connected to the Adelaide pizza shop on Thursday, the blockbuster day-night Test against India is safe in its rightful home.
Any doubt about the Test remaining in Adelaide appears over, and not only that – Adelaide Oval looks set to maintain its 50 per cent crowd capacity in a massive boost for the game.
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Having to give the crowd a major haircut would have been a huge blow for the occasion of day-night cricket which feeds off the tremendous atmosphere offered by Adelaide Oval.
For the AFL, Adelaide was working off a crowd of 27,000 and cricket looks set to only dip slightly to 23,000 for the first Test starting on December 17.
The loss of 4000 seats was expected and is due to the configuration of cricket where space is lost due to the sight screens at each end of the ground.
Over the course of five days, organisers would be hoping to get up close to 100,000, if not eclipsing the magical figure.
Administrators are still working through the final phases of mapping out how fans will be accommodated, but a crowd of 23,000 gives Adelaide and the start to the summer a relatively normal feel.
The blockbuster Indian summer kicks off on Friday at the SCG, with only a couple of hundred tickets left for what’s expected to be a 23,000 sell-out ODI.
In terms of what team Australia might send out for the first Test in Adelaide, ODI captain Aaron Finch on Thursday said selectors shouldn’t be worried about Victorian hopeful Will Pucovski’s youth when deciding on their opening partner for David Warner.
“When you’re talking about young guys especially hugely talented guys like Will, there’s going to be ups and downs in their careers no doubt. So being exposed to the highest level early on. I think it might seem tough at the time if things don’t go well straight away. But the lessons you learn from that, the way you approach the game, the way you approach it mentally more than anything is really a valuable lesson and something it can’t really be taught,” said Finch.
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“You can speak to everybody about how to go about it, how you’re going to feel, but until you walk out and mark centre or bowl your first over in Test cricket, you don’t really understand what your reaction to it is going to be.”
THE 60-YEAR FIRST CUMMINS IS PREPARED FOR
Australia has not had a fast bowling captain in more than 60 years, but Pat Cummins has declared the top job is not mission impossible.
Cummins is just one Aaron Finch or Tim Paine injury away from becoming the first quick since Ray Lindwall in 1956-57 to captain Australia, and if he was to be thrust into the hot seat, he’s convinced that wearing the dual hats of leading the attack and the team is manageable.
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As it stands, Cummins is in the box seat to be Australia’s next Test captain.
Cummins gained some experience on September’s white ball tour of England when he led teammates into battle against a Finch-led team in Australia’s intra-squad warm-up matches, enough to reassure him that the demands aren’t too much should an unexpected call come in the heat of battle this summer.
“Yeah I think it’s possible, for sure. It’s a slight adjustment, but you’re adjusting roles (in different ways) all the time as a bowler,” Cummins told News Corp.
“When you’re out there fielding, you’ve got a bit more responsibility that you have to think about, but the game still goes ahead and you’ve got plenty of people to lean on.
“For sure it’s possible.
“We had a couple of warm up games over here in England which was my first taste of captaining a cricket game for a long time. That made it a bit more of a reality.
“But we’ll have to wait and see. Obviously Finchy has played a lot of cricket and doesn’t miss too many games so I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
Prior to the warm-up matches in England, Cummins hadn’t captained a cricket team since his teenage years.
In that sense, it was an eye-opening experience, and one he’s glad he’s got under his belt.
Cummins spent his time during those matches as skipper fielding at mid-off or mid-on where he could easily communicate with his bowlers, and wicketkeeper.
“It’s a little bit different to what I expected, just because I hadn’t done it for quite a while,” said Cummins.
“But it’s fine. I think as a bowler, you’re constantly thinking about your fields and when you’re going to bowl and how the match is going to pan out, so there’s probably just a couple more things you’ve got to be aware of.
“But in this side at the moment you’ve got so many experienced heads around you, so many great leaders and guys who have captained a lot for their states or even Australia. So no shortage of help if needed.”
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One of those experienced heads is Steve Smith, who on Tuesday said aspiring to lead his country again is not something he has been thinking about.
Fellow fast bowler Josh Hazlewood said there’s no shying away from the fact that there are difficulties captaining as a quick that batsmen don’t have to face, but backed Cummins to rise above them.
“I’m sure Pat’s ready if called upon. He’s been the vice-captain for a while now. If something arises (with Paine or Finch) then that’s the way it will go – the vice-captain stands up and does the job when required. I’m sure he’ll handle that fine,” said Hazlewood.
“I think it has its pros and cons. When you’re bowling sometimes you can get a bit too emotional and involved in the game and become a bit blinded to the right decision and sometimes you’re cooked from bowling and you’re down at fine leg having a drink and trying to get away from the game.
“But I think it can work.”
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Originally published as Australia v India: Adelaide Oval to keep Test despite COVID scares
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