Aussies to play safe in bubble

JUST BY HUGGING A MATE IN THE CROWD YOU MISS A WEEK JOSH HAZLEWOOD

JOSH Hazlewood is adamant that Australia’s cricketers will not follow Jofra Archer to the doghouse and put the game’s $360 million revival ticket in jeopardy.

Archer was axed by England and fined an undisclosed amount for threatening hundreds of millions of dollars in broadcast revenue by breaking strict biosecurity conditions … to visit his dog.

As Australia’s 26-man squad start to finetune preparations for their early September UK tour, Hazlewood has declared Archer’s bizarre breach serves as a timely wakeup call for players about what is at stake for breaking the bubble.

“Absolutely. I think Jofra is one example and there’s been examples in the NRL and AFL as well. Just by hugging a mate in the crowd you miss a week,” said Hazlewood.

“So we’ve got to keep those strict guidelines in place to get the sport to go ahead. So we’ll obviously learn from that mistake.”

Hiring a private jet to get from Australia to England may cost cricket bosses several hundreds of thousands of dollars alone, while every T20 and ODI international the old enemies are scheduled to play will be worth millions to broadcasters, not to mention the multimillion-dollar bill for biosecurity.

In throwing the book at Archer, England cricket bosses have stressed that if a biosecurity stuff-up derailed the season, it would cost world cricket $360 million.

The strict discipline Australia must exercise in the UK will be good practice for the home summer against India, which is itself worth over $300 million to the game.

The smallest slip-up in the COVID-19 era could have dire consequences for the future of the sport.

ICC officials were due to hold another meeting last night, and there was some chance an official announcement could be made to cancel the World Cup.

Star fast bowler Hazlewood is a walk-up in Australia’s Test and ODI formats, but just on the outer when it comes to T20 cricket.

The postponing of the World Cup for at least another year would give him an IPL and a BBL and possibly several internationals to restate his claim for T20 selection.