Christmas in isolation spurs call to can Perth

BIG Bash League clubs want Cricket Australia to cancel their trips to Perth as unhappy Melbourne Renegades players face the prospect of spending Christmas Day isolating in hotel quarantine.

Channel 7 and Fox Cricket will broadcast a double-header following the opening day of the MCG Test and the Perth fixture is ideal to fulfil the 9.15pm AEDT timeslot because of the three-hour time difference.

Rolling the Boxing Day Test (10.30am start) into the “Sydney Smash” between the Sixers and Thunder (6.05pm), followed by the Scorchers Renegades clash (9.15pm) would see cricket fans glued to their TVs for 14 consecutive hours of live action.

But the Renegades are privately filthy they are expected to fly out on Christmas Day, which would see them land in Perth and be escorted to their individual hotel rooms, where they would remain locked until heading to Optus Stadium for the clash against the Scorchers the following night.

They are slated to fly back to Melbourne on December 27 and would only be allowed out of their hotel rooms to play the match. Coach David Saker said it would be hypocritical of CA to force BBL clubs to play in Perth if the Test team doesn’t have to.

“If they’re not taking a Test match there it makes no sense they’d take a Big Bash game there,” Saker said. “So if they do that it’s pretty contradictory. But it sometimes comes down to the TV and the sponsorship – they’ve got to get a game in at that timeslot – so it just makes sense to play it in Perth. But if the Test team isn’t going there how can they force a Big Bash team (to go) there?”

Perth is all but certain to lose the fifth Ashes Test in coming days due to Western Australian premier Mark McGowan’s hardline border stance and ultra-strict quarantine conditions.

Saker said the Renegades would “play anywhere, anytime” – a mantra made famous by AFL coach Ross Lyon. But for some the Christmas trip would be a big sacrifice.

Superstar batsman Aaron Finch became a father for the first time in September and would have to miss his first Christmas with wife Amy and their baby girl Esther to take on Perth Scorchers.

Teammates James Pattinson and Mackenzie Harvey also have young children while fill-in captain Kane Richardson forfeited his $800,000 IPL contract to be in Australia for the birth of his son last year.