Australian team set off on masked mission to save cricket
As Australia’s cricketers head overseas, they will step into a bubble that could be the saviour of the game.
As Australia’s cricketers became the first national team to head overseas since the start of COVID-19 lockdowns, they will step into a bubble that could be the saviour of the game.
The template for biosecure cricket developed by the ECB is being exported to other countries to help them fulfil their commitments under the Future Tours Programme and salvage precarious financial positions.
Colin Graves, the outgoing ECB chairman, warned last week: “You have some countries running out of money and on the verge of going under. We should not let that happen.”
Australia’s white-ball squad flew out from Perth on Sunday on a chartered flight to the UK, the first national team to leave the country since borders were closed.
They will train in Derby before the three Twenty20s and three ODIs against England in the knowledge that if they do not tour, they cannot expect India and England to tour Australia this summer and next.
The India tour alone is estimated to be worth $300 million to Cricket Australia.
Australia was due to host the World T20 in October, but that has been postponed until 2022.
All energies are now channelled towards making the India matches happen. Four Tests are slated for December and January in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, but the Covid-19 outbreak in Victoria has put the Boxing Day Test at the MCG in doubt. CA says its fate hinges on spectators being allowed to attend.
If they are not, Perth may step in, or Adelaide or Sydney may stage a second match.
India is equally desperate for the Indian Premier League, postponed earlier in the year, to be completed at its relocated home in the United Arab Emirates. It runs from September 19 to November 8, but teams have already arrived in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for six days of quarantine before training camps.
The Indian board and the ECB are working on arrangements for England to tour for two months before another IPL in April. Five Tests, three ODIs and three T20s are scheduled, but the Test series could be trimmed and, given the high rates of infection in India, there must be a strong chance of some or all games being moved to the UAE.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly confirmed on Saturday in a letter to state associations the board’s intention to fulfil the series with Australia and England, but was less clear about other — less financially imperative — fixtures. He said the England tour would begin in February.
The Times
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