Cricket Australia (CA) Chief Executive Nick Hockley on Tuesday confirmed the increased levels of protocol to be implemented from the Boxing Day Test, saying the level has been raised from three to four in view of the evolving COVID-19 situation. .
Australian captain Pat Cummins was ruled out of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval after he came in contact with a COVID positive person while eating out.
“So (for Boxing Day) we will go up our protocol from Level 3 to Level 4,” Hockley told Sen. Breakfast on Tuesday.
Read also | India vs South Africa: Coach Rahul Dravid working on Virat Kohli’s batting in the nets – View Photos
The third Test is scheduled at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), while the fourth and fifth matches of the Ashes series will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and Hobart respectively.
The situation of Kovid-19 is developing differently in different states of Australia. The initial Ashes Test was played in Brisbane (Queensland) with the state COVID-free, before being shifted to Adelaide (South Australia) at the time, wherever the virus was not prevalent.
But given the situation in Victoria and New South Wales, which average thousands of COVID-19 cases daily, the protocol level has been raised.
“We have different levels of protocol depending on the risk environment … Even before Pat’s (Cummins) situation, Melbourne and Sydney were higher at risk than Brisbane and Adelaide and it depends on the number of cases in the community. The reason was,” Hawkley said.
Read also | Ponting slams root for England bowlers’ loss in Adelaide
“Really the main difference (between levels 3 and 4) is that we tell players to avoid indoor public settings with large crowds. They can still go outside, still go to the beach ‘ We’re trying to strike a balance between making sure everyone has a great quality of life, but at the same time we’re able to keep the chain going,” Hockley said.
Cummins has since returned to the team and will lead the hosts in the third Test at the MCG after regularly testing COVID-negative.
get all IPL news and cricket score Here
,