Test close but border closure clouds issue
Cricket Australia is poised to make its massive call on the fate of Sydney’s SCG showpiece as early as today, but the NSW Government hopes it will be given longer.
Live case numbers in Sydney were halved for a second consecutive day to come down to just eight new cases yesterday, and all traced back to the northern beaches cluster.
But despite the optimism from an infection standpoint, Sydney still appears trapped between a rock and a hard place in regards to holding on to its Test, because Queensland won’t revisit opening its border to NSW until January 8, and cricket officials need to know they can get to Brisbane to finish the series on January 15.
The NSW Government saved the cricket summer from potential disaster in November when it allowed the Australian and Indian teams to train while in quarantine when, ironically, the Queensland Government had strung CA along and refused.
NSW Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres insists there is no reason why the Sydney Test should be given up on now.
“We are keen to see the Sydney Test proceed in its current timeslot,” Ayres told The Daily Telegraph. “The current trend of infections is encouraging and we will continue to work with Cricket Australia over the coming days.”
CA has not forgotten that they were rescued by the NSW Government, and are desperate for the Test to stay in Sydney. But they have been held to ransom by border closures.
As much as the case numbers might continue to improve in Sydney, the border obstacle is not going to go away in the time frame CA needs to make its decision.
It’s understood CA has ruled out the prospect of flipping the order of the Sydney and Brisbane Tests, leaving the dual Tests in Melbourne as the firming favourite.
One other outside option would be to take a punt on Sydney, and deal with the consequences of whether or not the NSW and Queensland border reopens at the time.