Cricket Australia (CA) is yet to take a call on the availability of its cricketers for the remainder of the 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which resumes in UAE later this year, said Nick Hockley, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CA on Monday.
Hockley, who was confirmed as CEO on Monday after being in interim position for a year, said it was too early to discuss players’ availability in IPL since the returning cricketers had only come out of quarantine in Sydney on Monday.
“Once we get back together as a group that [the IPL] is something we’ll obviously need to discuss,” Hockley was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.com.
“Our players returning from the IPL have only today come out of quarantine, so our first priority is to make sure they are reunited with their families… we [then] have a tour to prepare for in the West Indies,” he added.
Significantly, Australia do not have any international commitments during the period when the IPL remainder will be held and so, the franchises are optimistic that most of the Aussie players will play.
“They (players) are clearly quite shaken by the experience, and are very appreciative to be back home, very much looking forward to being reunited with family and friends today. It’s a couple of weeks before the West Indies touring party then regroups at the National Cricket Centre [in Brisbane] and then that’s the time to refocus,” said Hockley.
Earlier, IPL 2021 was suspended on May 4 as several Covid-19 cases emerged in the tournament’s bio-bubble.
Later, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had flown Australian cricketers, support staff and officials to the Maldives before sending them back home.