Sydney Test may be cancelled after NSW COVID-19 outbreak

Cricket officials are scrambling to make emergency plans as COVID numbers grow in NSW, with one back-up option firming as the most likely outcome.

They Sydney Test is in doubt due to the NSW COVID-19 outbreak.

Cricket is bracing itself for the distinct possibility that the Sydney Test will be moved.

CA’s preferred options would be to still play in Sydney or to change the order of the third and fourth Test to allow for border crossings.

But if numbers grow in NSW today, the options ahead of Cricket Australia would appear to be two Tests in Melbourne, two in Brisbane, or returning to Adelaide.

The powerful BCCI will have a say in things and it’s unlikely India would go for two Tests at the bouncy Gabba, leaving back-to-back Tests in Melbourne as the most likely option.

Cricket Australia officials will host a big “Steer Co” meeting on Sunday after the NSW Government announces the latest case numbers across the city.

Officials still have a couple of days to make a final call and will give Sydney every possible chance, but the situation is looking ominous.

Broadcast sources believe the prospect of the MCG hosting the Boxing Day Test and then being turned around for a New Year’s Test on January 7 is a real possibility.

It would certainly help the broadcast partners Fox Cricket and Channel 7 because the networks would be set-up and wouldn’t need to shift to another location.

The Sydney Test was slated to welcome in a sold-out full-capacity crowd, but that would appear impossible now.

Sydney could still technically host its traditional Test, but the problem for Cricket officials is what to do next – because getting across the Queensland border for a Gabba Test on January 15 would appear to be getting more difficult by the day.

If Adelaide was shoehorned in to host the New Year’s Test on January 7, it would be a daytime Test.

Brisbane hosting back-to-back Tests on January 7 and January 15 would appear the most unlikely because of Indian opposition and the fact the lack of gap between matches wouldn’t give officials much chance to turn around the centre square.