Lynn feels heat over breach

The Brisbane Heat have been hit with at least a $30,000 penalty while captain Chris Lynn and team-mate Dan Lawrence have also been fined after Covid-19 protocol breaches in Canberra.

In a statement yesterday, the apologetic Brisbane Heat captain admitted to taking a photo with a member of public at a licensed venue and catching a taxi.

The incident, in contravention to the BBL’s biosecurity rules, was brought to light in the hours before the Heat’s clash with the Sydney Thunder on Monday.

Lynn and English team-mate Daniel Lawrence were still allowed to play but forced to keep their distance from other players and officials.

They were made to pay yesterday, Cricket Australia handing down a $50,000 fine to the club — $20,000 of which is suspended for the rest of the BBL season.

Of the $10,000 fines to both players, $4000 has been suspended.

Lynn explained that he had been ‘‘lulled into a false sense of security’’ by Australia’s effective management of the virus, but admitted that he had knowingly flouted rules with what Cricket Australia admitted were ‘‘low risk’’ breaches.

But Cricket Australia’s head of integrity and security Sean Carroll said they were unacceptable and put the BBL in jeopardy.

Lynn said he had been careless and was grateful he was allowed to play, the big-hitter scoring 69 in a game the Thunder snatched at the death to add to the Heat’s headaches.

‘‘Having a photo with a fan at a licensed venue and travelling in taxi seem pretty low risk but they were identified in our briefings as examples of things you couldn’t do,’’ he said.

‘‘I was probably lulled into a false sense of security that because everything has been improving around the country we were getting closer to normal behaviour.’’