Ashes 2021-22: Heightened levels of Covid-19 protocols from Boxing Day Test onwards

Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive Nick Hockley on Tuesday confirmed the heightened levels of protocols will be implemented during the ongoing Ashes series between the hosts and England from the Boxing Day Test onwards.

Hockley said that the level had been raised from three to four due to the evolving COVID-19 situation in Australia.

Notably, newly-appointed Australia captain Pat Cummins was forced to miss the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval after the pacer had come in close contact with a Covid-positive person while dining out in his country.

“So (for Boxing Day), we’ll be going up from our protocol level 3 to Level 4,” Hockley was quoted as saying by SEN Breakfast on Tuesday.

While the upcoming third Test is scheduled to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the remaining fourth and fifth games of the Ashes series will be staged at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and Hobart, respectively.

Notably, the COVID-19 situation is evolving differently across different states of Australia.

The opening Ashes Test was played in Brisbane (Queensland) with the state being free of the virus at that time before it moved to Adelaide (South Australia), where too there was absence of Covid-19.

However, the current situation in Victoria and New South Wales is not the same as these two states have witnessed thousands of Covid-19 cases daily in the recent times due to which the protocol level has been raised.

“We’ve had different levels of protocols depending on the risk environment… even before the Pat (Cummins) situation, Melbourne and Sydney were higher on the risk level than Brisbane and Adelaide and that was due to the number of cases in the community,” said Hockley.

“Really the main difference (between Level 3 and 4) is that we ask players to avoid big crowded indoor public settings. They can still go out, still go to the beach, still go to the park. They can still go out for dinner, but we ask them to dine outside and in small groups so if there is another hotspot, the whole group is not caught up. So we’re trying to strike that balance between making sure everyone has a great quality of life but also we’re able to keep the series going,” added Hockley.

After missing the second Test, Cummins has returned to the squad and is all set to lead the home side in the third Test at the MCG after he has regularly tested COVID-negative. In his absence, Steve Smith took the charge of the captaincy.

Hosts Australia currently lead the five-match Ashes series 2-0 after winning the first two Tests by nine wickets and 275 runs respectively.

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