Cricket Australia signs agreement with New South Wales State Government for India tour
After weeks of deliberation, Cricket Australia and New South Wales Government have finally signed a deal regarding quarantining in Sydney with access to nearby training facilities for India’s tour of Australia. BCCI are yet to sign off the final agreement for the tour, which starts from November 27.
The India tour of Australia has been in limbo for quite some time as Cricket Australia was unable to reach an agreement with the state governments to green-light the much-awaited tour. However, finally, Cricket Australia has been able to agree upon the quarantining rules with the New South Wales Government with Sydney and Canberra to serve as the starting points of India's tour Down Under next month.
The deal for the touring team and Australian players includes quarantining facilities in Sydney for the Indian and Australian players returning players from the IPL with access to nearby training facilities. However, the deal will still require a final sign-off from BCCI, who have been reluctant to go ahead with the tour due to lack of details from CA. While CA and NSW were able to reach a quarantine and training agreement in a matter of days, CA and the Queensland state government and health department ran into fifth week with no resolution in sight, largely due to critical condition in the state.
The first two ODIs on November 27 and 29 are set to be played at the SCG, the third ODI on December 1 and the first T20I on December 4 will take place at Canberra's Manuka Oval, before the teams return to Sydney for the final two T20Is at the SCG on December 6 and 8.
A pink-ball Test is scheduled to be held at Adelaide Oval between December 17-21, with Adelaide also the backup option for the Boxing Day Test should the Covid-19 situation not allow it to be held at the MCG. However, if things go according to the plan, then, Melbourne will be the venue for Boxing Day (December 26-30) followed by Tests in Sydney (January 7-11) and finally Brisbane (January 15-19).