Players to fly out tomorrow, Hussey sick and stranded

Cricket Australia says they are looking at the Maldives as an escape route for its players but Michael Hussey has Covid and cannot leave India for at least 10 days.

Mike Hussey tested posotive for Covid-19 while working as an IPL batting coach

Michael Hussey is stranded in India with Covid-19, but the 37 other Australian who are part of the IPL will likely fly out to a second country in the next few days and await their chance to return home.

The former Australian player, who was coaching in the IPL, was confined to his room for 10 days after a second test on Tuesday confirmed his positive status.

“He has a few flu symptoms, he is not too bad,” his manager Neil Maxwell said. “His first test came back borderline positive but the second test was positive.”

Being admitted to an Indian hospital — if one could be found — is a terrifying prospect for all Indians and the thousands of Australians trapped in their country by the government border ban.

Shortages of beds, medicines and oxygen has left people dying in the street and in some cities crematoriums cannot keep up with the demand.

Commentator Michael Slater renewed his fight with Prime Minister Scott Morrison again on Wednesday night over the ban on Australians returning home.

“Amazing to smoke out the PM on a matter that is a human crisis,” he tweeted from the Maldives after he fled India.

“The panic, the fear of every Australian in India is real.

“How about you take your private jet and come and witness dead bodies in the street.”

The timing is terrible for Hussey as his condition was confirmed the day the IPL was suspended and means he cannot board a charter flight with his compatriots to begin an uncertain and interrupted journey home.

The Australian understands the players will fly to the Maldives (Sri Lanka is an option) as early as possible and will then board a charter flight hired by the BCCI when Scott Morrison’s border closures are lifted.

If they return before May 15 they face fines of up $60,000 and up to six years jail under controversial legislation which has been labelled racist and is being challenged in the Federal Court.

England’s players arrived home on Wednesday and players from every other nation competing are free to travel back to their families immediately.

The Australians at the IPL are being tested regularly amid concerns the virus has spread more widely. Four Indian players and four staff members in four different franchises have tested positive.

Hussey sat next to Chennai Super Kings bowling coach L Balaji on the bus in the days before the Indian tested positive.

He needs to pass two negative tests to clear isolation but if he does should arrive in Australia to do his two weeks of quarantine at the same time as the others.

People have become suspicious about the way the biosecurity arrangements were being adhered to inside the bubbles where the IPL bosses had guaranteed their safety.

Wriddhiman Saha tested positive on Tuesday just hours before the tournament was abandoned. It is understood the Sunrisers Hyderabad player who was staying in the next room to David Warner had flu symptoms a few days earlier, but tested negative twice before then returning a positive swab.

Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association have been in regular contact with Indian cricket bosses over the past two days to ensure safe passage for the players.

“The BBCI are working through the final details that are at the moment and we expect that movement will happen in the next two to three days,” interim Chief Executive Officer Nick Hockley said.

“The BBCI are committed to not only the first movement to either the Maldives or Sri Lanka but they’re also then committed to putting on a charter to bring them back to Australia.”

ACA boss Todd Greenberg and Hockley defended the players who are being criticised for wanting to return home.

“We are not seeking any special arrangements whatsoever,” Hockley said. “Any quarantine arrangements will be over and above the cap.

“Our main priority is to work with the relevant Australian governments to make sure we are not taking space of anyone else.”

The Indian cricket side was flown into NSW and quarantined in a hotel at Homebush at the start of the summer in order not to use up space for citizens returning.

The cricketers received government permission to travel to and from Australia for the tournament.

“The public will see our best Australian cricketers as almost superheroes,” he said. “They are brilliant athletes and great cricketers, but they are human beings, they’re people. Some of them are fathers and husbands.

“They are under enormous amounts of stress over there, some of them deal with that quite well, others deal with that in their own well.

“We have to treat all of them differently. This will be an experience they will probably never forget. We are going to help them as much as we can when they get home.

“Some of them will cope really well, others may need a little bit more support and counsel and that’s what we are going to do.”

The IPL and BCCI were at pains to explain yesterday that the tournament was postponed not cancelled and there is an expectation it will happen toward the end of the year in the UAE.

There is speculation games could be played as double headers in the lead up to the T20 World Cup which is scheduled to be held in October.

Fawad Ahmed was left behind in Karachi when the Pakistan Super League was suspended in March.

The spinner told The Australian at the time that he had been very sick with fever for a number of days and was distressed because his mother had earlier died of the virus.

Pace bowler Pat Cummins revealed the reality of life in India for the players when he spoke to Fox Sports on Tuesday night, before the tournament was suspended.

“Up until now I felt incredibly safe in the bubble they created,” he said. “Arriving we had to do seven days quarantine, tests every two days, we had to wear masks in the hotel, literally the only people we have seen are hotel staff who are getting tested every day and members of our team.”

Cummins said he was shocked to hear about big fines and possible jail terms for Australian citizens returning from India.

“Once we flew out from Australia we knew we faced 14 days quarantine coming home, so you always feel that little bit further away from getting home, but as soon as that hard border shut obviously no one has ever experienced that before.

“It added a little bit of anxiety for some of the Aussies over here but hopefully it all opens on May 15 and we are able to get back.”