New fears for Gabba Test after Queensland announces lockdown
Queensland Cricket is hoping Brisbane’s lockdown doesn’t provide further reason for India to boycott next week’s Test.
Cricket officials are growing in confidence that they will get India across the line for the Gabba Test after receiving assurances that Brisbane’s three-day lockdown and status as a federal government hotspot won’t compromise next week’s series finale.
India is remaining mysteriously silent, but sources late on Friday said all signs point to a BCCI agreement.
The fact SCG staff have still not been asked to prepare a backup wicket is the surest sign Cricket Australia is powering ahead with its mission to play out the summer as scheduled, despite the whispering campaign from members of the Indian camp.
Queensland’s shock call to put the city into a strict lockdown in a bid to short-circuit any threat of a mutant COVID virus infiltrating the community has Queensland Cricket nervously holding its breath ahead of the Gabba Test starting on January 15.
All grade and club cricket in Brisbane for this weekend has been cancelled and when the lockdown lifts on Monday, the Test will only be four days away.
But although crowd numbers could be impacted by a government rethink, the lockdown wouldn’t appear to pose any threat to the Test itself. Although Cricket Australia will still need to convince the Indians their expectations will be met and hope the tourists won’t be spooked any further than they already are.
In Sydney, the Indians have the run of their hotel. But it’s understood they fear that in Brisbane they will be confined to their floors and delivered meals in their individual rooms. They want communal areas to eat and mingle.
These are the points of contention being worked through with Cricket Australia officials, who are trying to calm the fears and reassure the BCCI that the conditions imposed on them will be no different to what they’re currently experiencing in Sydney.
In high-level meetings on Friday, the Queensland government confirmed to Cricket Australia that the quarantine measures promised would not be impacted by the lockdown.
Cricket Australia continues to communicate these commitments to the BCCI, but is still hoping its Indian counterpart can declare once and for all its team will travel to Brisbane to finish the series.
Concerns over quarantining arrangements have been raised by the Indian team on the ground, but BCCI officials at head office are now working with them to iron out every single detail of the Brisbane arrangement before they’re satisfied to proceed.
Queensland proudly held a State of Origin match with a full crowd in a moment of blissful celebration, and further big crowds have been expected for what is guaranteed to be a live finish to the Border-Gavaskar series.
But those full crowds must now be under a cloud. It would seem bizarre to have a city in lockdown one weekend and then fans pouring into the Gabba the next.
Cricket Australia has spent the past 36 hours locked in urgent crisis talks with Indian representatives, trying to reassure them that Queensland’s quarantining promise that they will be free to roam around their hotel will not be withdrawn.
Indian players and staff don’t want to be locked in their hotel rooms, but Queensland has already said that won’t happen.
The BCCI signed off on the protocols last week, but Cricket Australia is desperately seeking confirmation it won’t backflip on its promises.
There have been rumblings out of the Indian camp for the past five days that they feel like “animals in the zoo” and they are furious they’ve been locked up in Sydney when the rest of the city is roaming free and allowed to attend the Test (in a capped crowd of 10,000).
The bizarre thing about the story is that India’s conditions in Brisbane will be no different to what they are in Sydney — and they would only have two-and-a-half days in the hotel before the final match starts in any case.
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