Queensland roadblock for India tour

Queensland government approval for India’s Test tour of Australia is still in doubt with health authorities rejecting plans

Virat Kohli’s wife Anushka Sharma may give birth during the tour of Australia

Cricket Australia has a crisis meeting with the Queensland government and health officials on Monday in an attempt to work through an impasse over Australian and Indian players quarantining in Brisbane ahead of what is one of the most important tours on the cricket calendar.

Senior sources in the Queensland government told The Australian players would be forced to serve a full 14-day quarantine period and would not be allowed to train in that period.

Any positive tests for COVID-19 would see the entire group serve another quarantine period, the source said.

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Health department sources said there was no chance the cricketers could quarantine in a Brisbane hotel and train at the Allan Border field as planned.

A compromise could be offered at the meeting if cricket can, as the AFL did, find a resort where they can stay and train but the players have to be “entirely isolated from the general public”.

The Queensland government is in no mood to make any special deals ahead of the election on October 31 and there are concerns no agreement will be reached before that date.

India is flying families to Dubai next month where they will meet up with the bulk of the playing group and Australian stars, including Steve Smith, David Warner, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch, who are competing in the IPL.

From there the 60-odd passengers were due to fly in the same chartered plane to Brisbane to quarantine before the first ODI in Brisbane in late November.

Plans to start the tour in Perth and Adelaide had already been abandoned and it was understood permission to enter Brisbane had been pending for the last three weeks.

“Queensland Heath are pushing back on Cricket Australia,’’ the source said.

“They don’t think there is a safe way to allow training while in quarantine, and it is very unlikely approval will be given to any of the arrangements proposed.

“Cricket Australia has been arguing that the players have already been in a bubble in the UAE.

“But Queensland Health’s view is that the bubble has not been as strict as the ones put together for the footballers in Queensland, and there is a risk to the cricketers.

“We are likely to insist on the teams going into full quarantine and then they go play the first Test.’’

If that is the case players would have no preparation before the white ball series begins in late November.

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young, who has led the state’s successful COVID response, has been assessing the Cricket Australia plan.

The families of the Indian cricketers will also have to go into full — and separate — quarantine, although they will first have to secure special consideration to leapfrog the existing list of Australians wanting to return home.

“That will be up to the feds, and might be tricky given here are tens of thousands of people on that list and they are coming from a country with a high prevalence of the virus,’’ the source said.

Queensland Health will also insist on a two week quarantine if the teams travel to Melbourne and it is a COVID hotspot at the time of their visit.

The source said it is possible the Indian team will look elsewhere in Australia to quarantine and train ahead of the first Test and there is already talk the white ball part of the tour could be moved to another state.

It is not clear if Virat Kohli’s wife Anushka Sharma intended to make the trip but it could be critical should she do so as has been rumoured. The Bollywood actress – a star in her own right – is pregnant and expecting the couple’s first child in January.

When contacted by The Australian late on Sunday night, Cricket Australia, released a statement from interim CEO Nick Hockley.

“We have been in constant discussions with Queensland government regarding our detailed proposal to quarantine the Indian and Australian men’s squads ahead of the 2020-21 summer of cricket. To date we haven’t received notification of any concerns about our plans which were submitted over a month ago.

“The discussions with the Queensland government have been built on the same quarantine and biosecurity protocols established during the highly successful Australia-New Zealand women’s series in Brisbane.

“This is an extremely detailed and complex plan that places the health and safety of the community, players and staff as paramount.

“We thank the BCCI for their understanding as we work through these complexities and we look forward to hosting a great summer of cricket.”

Queensland Health confirmed a meeting would take place but would not comment further when contacted on Sunday.

“Queensland Health is currently assessing the issue with the Indian Cricket team,” the source said.

“Queensland is not aware that the Federal government has granted an exemption for players to travel to Australia.”

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly confirmed on Saturday night that India has received an itinerary and discussed conditions ahead of the tour.

“Cricket Australia has sent us an itinerary and we discussed the modalities of that itinerary. We will be playing four Tests and that will end in third week of January,” BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said.

Ganguly and Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings are in regular contact, the local cricket boss telling The Australian last week he was “one hundred per cent confident” the Indians would be come.

The proposed India tour would start with a three-match ODI series from November 26 and the T20Is will be held from December 4 in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The Test series will start in Adelaide (December 17), Melbourne, then move to Melbourne (December 26), Sydney (January 7) and conclude in Brisbane (January 15) to begin on December 17.

India media reports suggest Test regulars like Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari, who are not involved in the IPL, and coaching staff, will quarantine in Mumbai next week before departing for UAE.

India is struggling to control the pandemic and announced “tentative” plans on the weekend to begin a limited domestic season in January.

Kohli’s India recorded a historic victory over a weakened Australia in 2018-19 and a rematch between full strength teams is keenly anticipated.