Cricket Australia rule out ambitious India quarantine request

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has called for the Indian team to be given special treatment for quarantining when they arrive in Australia for their scheduled Test series in December.

Ganguly last week called for the two-week quarantine imposed on all international arrivals to be ‘reduced a bit’ for the Indian team.

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The Indian cricket boss said the global pandemic was a ‘depressing and disappointing’ situation, but said he believed the relative lack of cases in Australia and New Zealand, in comparison to other parts of the globe, meant the team should be given special treatment.

“Australia and New Zealand have been in good position except Melbourne,” he said.

“So from that point of view we will be going there and hopefully the quarantine days will be less and we can get back to cricket.”

Cricket Australia boss Nick Hockley quickly insisted CA would not be pushing for any exceptions to quarantine requirements for visiting teams, however he also said exceptions would be required to permit international teams to enter the country at all.

Hockley also raised the possibility of the Indian team quarantining at the Adelaide Oval, which has a hotel attached.

“Whether it’s a hotel on site or hotels in close proximity to venues, certainly creating that environment where we are minimising risk of infections and creating a biosecure environment is the absolute priority,” he said.

“There’s a huge amount at stake if we are unable to do that.

“We will need to get exemptions. Its unlikely international travel restrictions will have lifted by the time India are due in to the country.

“Clearly there will be testing regimes … before they get on the plane, then making sure we have the quarantine regulations in lines.

“All those plans are currently in development.”

Cricket Australia look to England for example

Hockley said the resumption of Test cricket in England, where their national team just hosted the first Test match since the coronavirus pandemic started against the West Indies, could provide an example of how the logistics could work.

“Getting certainty in this environment is not always possible. It is just massively complex,” he said.

“We've been watching very closely how the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) have delivered their international series against the West Indies.

“Minimising the risk of infections and creating a bio-secure environment this summer is the absolute priority because there's just a huge amount at stake if we're unable to do that.”

With AAP