The second Test between India and Australia ended on Tuesday (December 29) in Melbourne but they are not travelling to the third Test venue i.e, Sydney. Cricket Australia head Nick Hockley has stated the players will stay in Melbourne for few more days and will move to Sydney just a few days before the start of the third Test.
As the new coronavirus strain has been found in Sydney, Cricket Australia is taking all the measures in place to go with the plans for the ongoing Test series which is currently even-steven.
“Last night’s announcement was that we are proceeding to Sydney and we are putting our plans in place to do that safely. The players will be in Melbourne for a few more days training there, before moving to Sydney a couple of days ahead of the Test match,” Hockley said while speaking to reporters on Wednesday during a virtual interaction.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) curator had, meanwhile, begun preparing a pitch next to the one where the second Test was played as standby.
Sydney to stage only 50% of their capacity:
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday said that the state government could allow about 50 per cent crowd for the third Test which means that there could be 24,000 spectators.
“I think the NSW Premier’s comments are a baseline. We will continue to work over the coming days with the NSW government and the SCG. Ultimately, we will take the government advice, how many we can have safely.“We want as many people as possible to experience the New Year’s Test. To do that safely is the target. Fifty percent public is a baseline. We will work in the coming days if we can get more but safety is the priority,” Hockley added.