NSW Government signs off on cricket quarantine by agreeing to host white-ball portion of India tour

After Queensland went cold on allowing India to train while serving their two-weeks of isolation, Cricket Australia have scrambled quickly and fast-tracked a better deal within 72 hours.

The SCG will see plenty of cricket in November.

NSW and Canberra have sealed the deal to launch the international men’s summer with six white ball matches against India, saving Virat Kohli from the threat of a Queensland boarding school.

Cricket Australia is still awaiting a final sign-off on their schedule from the all-powerful BCCI, but sources said on Thursday night that the NSW Government had given their approval for the Indians to quarantine and train in Sydney which is a major breakthrough in ensuring the $300 million summer gets off the ground.

On Sunday night cricket officials were left blindsided by news that the Queensland Government were baulking at their quarantining requests – and had gone cold on allowing the Indians to train while serving their two-weeks of isolation, unless they were prepared to potentially bunker down at a boarding school.

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The SCG and NSW cricket fans are the big winners from the decision.

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The stunning development was a deal breaker with potentially monumental consequences, but CA officials have scrambled quickly and fast-tracked a better deal with the NSW Government within 72 hours.

NSW Government officials did not return calls on Thursday night, but it’s understood Cricket Australia received final ministerial approval following a meeting on Thursday afternoon.

After being strung along for six weeks by Queensland, the NSW Government moved at lightning speed with police approving the measures proposed by CA.

It means Virat Kohli’s Indians and Australia’s returning IPL stars like Steve Smith and David Warner will be allowed to train while in quarantine in Sydney when it’s expected they will arrive from Dubai on either November 11 or 12, and will be permitted to operate in conditions similar to the NRL’s New Zealand Warriors and the Argentinian rugby union team.

Cricket Australia must receive a final green-light from Indian officials before they can release a summer schedule, which as revealed by News Corp previously, will feature a first day-night Test in Adelaide starting on December 17, a Boxing Day Test at the MCG, a later than usual Sydney Test starting on January 7, and a final Test in Brisbane from January 15.

Virat Kohli and his Indian team will start their tour in Sydney and Canberra.

NSW’s rescue package means the preceding limited overs series will be split between Canberra and the SCG – who would host three matches each from November 26 or 27 through to December 8.

There has been some conjecture out of India over whether or not the tourists will be allowed to bring their families into quarantine with them, however, Cricket Australia sources indicated they were not aware of any roadblocks.

Sources out of India say players would want the ability to bring family members given the time they will be spending away from home in a bubble, immediately following an exhaustive eight-week IPL.

No indications have come out of India which suggest anything other than Kohli’s team honouring their $300 commitment to save the Australian summer in the midst of COVID-19.

The relative luxury of quarantining and training in Sydney is a huge improvement on what India might have been offered by Queensland.

Queensland Health officials discussed the prospect of sending superstar Kohli and his men back to boarding school as a desperate measure to save the cricket summer.

Indian fans in Queensland won’t get see their heroes play any white-ball cricket this summer.

Queensland hit an insurmountable roadblock to hosting the Indian team due to a government demand that the team must train at the same hotel at which it stays.

One option discussed by the Queensland government and cricket officials was to send the Indians to a GPS boarding school - Nudgee College was one option - where they could stay and train in quarantine before playing the six white-ball games that now seemed destined for NSW.

Kohli was at times described as behaving like a naughty schoolboy on his early tours yet no-one expected him to land in a boarding house on an Australian tour.

The option never got off the ground for a multitude of reasons including the fact that children would still be in school when the Indians arrive and boarding house facilities would be unpalatable to the Indians used to five-star luxury on the road.

But it does show how desperate things became in the protracted negotiations between the Queensland Government and Cricket Australia which seems to have hit a terminal stalemate.

Originally published as NSW Government signs off on cricket quarantine by agreeing to host white-ball portion of India tour