AUS v NZ | Cricket Australia taking measures to deal with bushfire smoke for Sydney Test

12/23/2019

Cricket Australia (CA) is taking measures in case play in the New Year Test between Australia and New Zealand in Sydney could be halted by smoke from the bushfires in New South Wales. Saturday’s BBL match between Sydney Thunder and Adelaide Strikers in Canberra was abandoned due to heavy smoke.

Though the air quality was also poor, the initial reason to suspend the T20 match four balls short of being a result was the reduced visibility caused by the smoke. While Sydney has been suffering from a poor Air Quality Index (AQI) of 170, which sits in the 'unhealthy' band, umpires can consider suspending play as per ICC guidelines if the AQI levels rise above 300.

"We hope not, but potentially. What we've seen in Sydney and Canberra is that it comes to a point where it becomes a challenge. Rules are in place, like rain, to add time for suspended play. What we are finding is that it can come in quick, but it can also go quick so it's unlikely it will be there for a full day," CA's head of cricket operations Peter Roach said, reported ESPNCricinfo.

"We might see some challenges across that day, but we'll play it like rain or adverse weather. What we've seen is about one day in ten is proving a challenge, we hope it won't come during the Test but we also understand that it might,” he said.

After the Sheffield Shield match which was completed at AQI 170, NSW spinner Steve O'Keefe had called on the officials to address the conditions as soon as possible. Peter Siddle, who plays for the Strikers in the Big Bash, was on the field when play was suspended in Canberra. "If you sit next to a campfire, just imagine that, that's what it felt like in the field," Siddle said.

In November, a T20I between India and Bangladesh in Delhi was severely impacted by smog which led to an AQI of over 400.