Ashes 2021: Level 4 Covid restrictions imposed on Australia and England players revealed

Cricket Australia has imposed severe restrictions on Ashes players in a bid to combat growing Covid numbers and avoid wiping out an entire bowling attack. The Level 4 restrictions revealed.

Exploding coronavirus numbers in Melbourne and Sydney won’t force players into lockdown for the next two Tests – but drinking in bars, getting haircuts and working out in public gyms will all be put on the banned list.

Isolating Australian captain Pat Cummins is likely to be the last player to dine indoors this series as Cricket Australia elevates its biosecurity protocols to Level 4 restrictions for the next two Tests.

Catch every moment of The Ashes live and ad-break free during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free now.

New South Wales set an infection record on Saturday with 2482 new cases, while Victoria recorded 1504 as the virus runs rampant around the SCG and MCG.

Signing autographs and taking selfies with fans are also likely to be deemed too risky in Melbourne and Sydney, while those hoping to sneak a visit to Chadstone for the Boxing Day sales are out of luck.

Players will no longer be allowed to mix in crowds, which effectively rules a line through shopping in busy areas.

Australia captain Pat Cummins was locked out of his second Test in charge. Picture: Patrick Hamilton/AFP

They can only visit family and friends outside. If they are forced inside for any reason they must undergo a Covid test.

Those who choose to stay at home, instead of the team hotel, will also be swabbed for the virus. Six members of Australia’s team live in Sydney.

The added restrictions beef-up the Level 3 protocols enacted in Adelaide, which already limit players to gathering in groups of three.

But players will still be free to dine outdoors in their small groups in Melbourne and Sydney because CA does not want them cooped up in hotel rooms during the two iconic Test matches after they have been confined to tight bubbles and served multiple stints in hotel quarantine throughout the pandemic.

England superstar Ben Stokes backed the decision to ban four or more players from entering the same venue.

Ben Stokes says the restrictions are worth it. Picture: William West/AFP

“The situation with Pat is a prime example of the reasons these precautions are put in place,” Stokes said.

“Because if, say for example, that was a bowler’s dinner and they were all taken out then you’re looking at a bigger disaster than just one player missing.”

Australia narrowly avoided having to find a completely new attack for the second Test because Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon dined outside at The Little Hunter steakhouse that Cummins was at.

SA health deemed anybody sitting inside the city restaurant, as Cummins was, to be a close contact of the coronavirus case, whose test was returned as positive during his meal.

Without CA’s rules in place there was the possibility that Jhye Richardson, Michael Neser and Mitchell Swepson could’ve also been tucking into a ribeye at the hotspot.

“We have to check in with each other to see what restaurants everyone’s going to,” Australian opener David Warner said.

“It’s just being smart – don’t go to where you think restaurants are going to be jam-packed.”

It is hoped the Cummins case serves as a “wake-up call” that sends shivers through not only the Ashes squads, but also Big Bash League players.

CA is alarmed at not only the prospect of players contracting the virus, but also of state health authorities locking them in quarantine as close contacts, which is what South Australia did to Cummins.

Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

The AFL forced clubs to train in players of six last year to mitigate the risk of an entire team getting wiped out.

While some clubs mixed players up based on position, most took the chance of losing an entire section of their field because they wanted their midfields, forwards and defenders to train in line groups.

“We identified Brisbane and Adelaide as low-risk, which is commensurate with the number of cases in the community,” CA boss Nick Hockley said.

“Certainly our risk level will go up going into Melbourne and into Sydney, and the protocols will change accordingly.

“Those protocols, they do balance wellbeing and mitigating the risk. Ultimately we want the players to have a great quality of life.”

Skipper’s blunder: Cummins’ Covid admission

Pat Cummins’ decision to dine out in Adelaide on Wednesday night could be known as the Last Supper for this Ashes series.

Certainly for the second Test in South Australia, where paranoid health authorities and their mandatory seven-day isolation periods for close contacts simply aren’t worth messing with.

Cummins is double-vaccinated, tested negative after his meal and did not breach any of Cricket Australia’s protocols.

But it was a risk that probably wasn’t worth taking by the Australian captain, particularly in Adelaide where the rules are stricter and masks remain mandatory indoors.

In fact, it was a risk Cricket Australia shouldn’t have allowed Cummins to take. Should the protocols have been tighter?

Pat Cummins will miss the second Test after being identified as a close contact of a positive Covid-19 case. Picture: Sarah Reed/Getty Images

“I think we tried to strike a balance,” Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said.

“We always know there’s a level of risk. I think we’ve just been extremely unlucky.

“It’s just a case of wrong place, wrong time. If you look at the whole balance of managing wellbeing the alternative would have been to lock everyone down completely for the whole tour.

“We’ve learnt over the last 18 months that’s got other consequences in terms of mental health and wellbeing.”

State health rules are both inconsistent and mind-boggling and players deserve their freedoms … but why take a chance on the eve of a Test?

Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc mitigated that risk somewhat by sitting outside and, despite being classified as casual contacts, are free to play.

It might seem harsh on Cummins and CA, but the lessons learned from the winter codes should have provided enough evidence that state health authorities are not worth engaging.

Look at Western Bulldogs superstar Josh Dunkley, who was forced to sit out a top-of-the-table blockbuster after enjoying a plate of chilli scrambled eggs and an oat latte in a Kew café.

Dunkley was seated near a person who tested positive for the virus and ordered into a 14-day quarantine. Dunkley checked in at Frank & Harri and suddenly the Victorian government forced him to check out of the club’s midfield.

Essendon’s Nick Hind was even more unlucky. Hind played all 22 home-and-away games only to miss the elimination final because he visited a supermarket to purchase a roast chicken.

The hot-spot chicken trip cost Hind a place in the backline because the match was played in Tasmania. If it was in Adelaide, where Cummins is now isolating, he would have been cleared to play.

Pat Cummins did not breach any Cricket Australia protocols. Picture: Patrick Hamilton/AFP

The Dunkley drama forced a switch in thinking in AFL land, particularly as finals approached.

“It does become a risk analysis situation,” Dogs boss Ameet Bains said.

“Whether it’s a simple thing like not going to the supermarket and instead getting groceries delivered or Uber Eats the whole time might come into play.”

The risk-reward balance gradually became more lopsided for players as September drew nearer. “The closer you get (to the grand final) and the shorter the period is that people have to make those sacrifices are far more willing to do it,” Bains said.

Well, the Ashes is like a Grand Final, and Cummins will be of no value watching on TV from his hotel room.