The mission to keep the fourth Test at the Gabba has been given a boost with confirmation players will not need to quarantine in their own hotel room.
India’s frustrations over the planned quarantine conditions in Queensland threw doubt over the venue of the series finale on Sunday, with the tourists reportedly wanting a move from Brisbane.
That was met with a firm resistance by Australia’s players, who see the Gabba as their fortress and none of whom would remember seeing the team lose a Test there.
At the heart of India’s issues is believed to be a frustration that they have already served a 14-day quarantine on entry to the country, and don’t want to endure it again.
The tourists were particularly put off by any suggestion they would need to isolate in their own hotel rooms, only allowed to leave to go the ground to train or play.
But while Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said the state would not bend rules given they were coming from a COVID hot spot in Sydney, players could mix inside the hotel.
“They will be confined to the hotel. We have worked with them they can have bubbles within that hotel,” Dr Young said.
“Because they are going to be going and playing with colleagues in the matches so they will have exposure there.
“So it doesn’t expose me if they have exposure to each other in the hotel.”
Cricket Australia say no official approach has been made about the Test, while SCG staff have previously indicated they could prepare a pitch for a second straight Test if needed.
But Australian players are adamant the match should stay in Brisbane, expecting sacrifices to be made from the relative freedom they have had in Adelaide and Melbourne.
“If (play-in-quarantine) is what the government are going to make us do to play a game at the Gabba then we’re willing to sacrifice,” Matthew Wade said on Sunday.
“I knew going into it, a lot of the players knew coming into it, it wasn’t going to be an ideal situation.
“And if something went south we were going to make some more sacrifices along the way.”
Australia have not lost a Test at the Gabba since 1988, with their 32-year unbeaten streak the longest of any team at any ground in world cricket.
“Our record’s very good there and we tend to play good cricket there,” Wade said.
“If it went to games back to back at the SCG that would obviously not be something that we will want to do.
“We would be much more comfortable going and playing the schedule as it rolls.”
With the series locked at 1-1, both teams will leave Melbourne for Sydney on Monday for the third Test before the series finale in Brisbane on January 15.
India’s Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini as the BCCI investigate if they broke protocols by eating inside at a Melbourne restaurant.
Teams have enjoyed relative freedom so far on the tour, but restrictions will tighten in Sydney due to the outbreak before the play-under-quarantine conditions in Brisbane that have frustrated India.
“We aren’t keen on going to Brisbane if it means being stuck in the hotel again, except for going to the ground,” a source from within India’s camp told Cricbuzz.
“Instead we don’t mind being in some other city, playing both Test matches there.”
Rohan
Roar Rookie
Normally my policy is to be kind, but seriously Homer, Australia are to be grateful? For the great India to grace us with their presence, and rescue us from financial oblivion? Come off it! If Australia is to be grateful it is for the following – – The strength and professionalism of the health workers in this country who have provided the best possible advice to government for the management of the most significant global pandemic of the era. – That the governments were prepared to take that advice, and understand that the health of the workforce and community is paramount to the security of the economy. That the governments acted to protect the health and financial security of its citizens , even if many think it could have been done better. – That the people of Australia have been steadfast in observing the activity restrictions that supported the pandemic management plan.Especially in Victoria where there has been the longest and strictest lockdown in the world. There would be no tour by India to Aus or NZ without the above. India are lucky to be here. If the Indian cricketers want to be so arrogant as to flout the very conditions that have made the tour possible, and risk the benefits all the hard work has brought, then they should be told no. CYA next time!
Rohan
Roar Rookie
Did you see that too Willow Wiz?
Rohan
Roar Rookie
Not confirmed Bernie, just from my trained eye, my opinion, say.
johnb
Guest
Couldn't agree more Zac. It'll be interesting to see what the conditions in Brisbane are like - there's a reason Brisbane tends to get the first test, because once you get to January the weather is much more volatile. The forecast is possible showers most days leading up to the test, and it's been very humid. We might get the stereotypical green seamer that Brisbane rarely actually produces. If so, it's the luck of the draw whether you're batting when the ball is hooping around, and both sides have bowlers capable of exploiting the conditions, so Australia has to do a lot more than just turn up if they want to win. '
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Yeah I'm not down playing the Nazi regime, but rather the Brits not seeing any parallels with their own hegemonic history.
Davico
Roar Pro
Yep, none of that done in NSW either?!
Irie
Roar Rookie
As everyone should in regard to the second one
Irie
Roar Rookie
If you're doing the "heavy lifting" its advisable not to drop the weight on your toe....
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Not correct about The Gabba's 32 year unbeaten streak being the longest ... in tests maybe it is but not in years. The West Indies went 60 years from 1935 to 1995 not losing in Bridgetown and Pakistan began playing tests in 1952 and did not lose in Karachi until 2000.
bungeye
Roar Rookie
https://www.google.com/amp/s/cricket.yahoo.net/amp/news/india-tour-of-australia-furious-allan-border-slams-bcci-on-scheduling-changes
bungeye
Roar Rookie
https://www.google.com/amp/s/cricket.yahoo.net/amp/news/india-tour-of-australia-furious-allan-border-slams-bcci-on-scheduling-changes INDIA CAUGHT RED HANDED!!!
Vasant Venkatramani
Guest
Briefly re my heritage: yes I’m of South Indian descent, but was born in Bombay and my wife is from Delhi and is fluent in Hindi. So my Hindi is passable. It doesn’t matter what was or not said by Harbhajan Singh. The point is regarding how an employer abdicated its duty towards its employee - the claim should have been tested in the court. In telling symonds to back down, cricket Australia allowed the following: 1) it failed to represent their employee adequately in a claim of racism. Regardless of what was said, it should have been heard. 2) it set the precedent that australias players would be secondary to the boards interest compared to their bottom line, which has been perpetuated ever since given the almost eternal battles between cricket Australia and the players union. 3) it gave the bcci the signal it needed that they would face little external opposition in its ambition to rule world cricket, and in turn, enabled the icc to become a pliant world governing body acting primarily in its unilateral direction. A decade on, it is worth examining the consequences of cricket Australia’s decision not to back their player. Since then, cricket Australia have sought a mindset of appeasement that would leave Neville chamberlain blushing. The BCCI are not a pantomime villain of the piece - but they have unchecked rule over the direction of global cricket. And out of the two boards that are powerful enough to take stands of conscious objection, one abdicated its negotiating power 12 years ago when they forced their player to drop a charge without testing it, and another is highly conscious of not intervening overly as it wants to avoid any notion of colonial power that once ruled the game. And both are at the financial behest of the BCCI.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Iron ore, gas, gold. Coal as well for the believers. These things plus excellent crops coming off our farms will bankroll our wonderful country out of the dark days.
No idea who said it I just remember hearing it last night...And i dont know what state they were from either but I think it was an Australian.....It may well have been a player who was micked up but I heard it in last nights coverage.....i had not heard it before so it stuck in my head...
sha boing boing
Guest
If you type "courier mail" and "gabbatoir" into your google machine, you will see quite a few references to that moniker made by the paper.
This may just be a ploy from someone to put more pressure on India as well. I think its a ploy by CA to remind India they dont play well at the Gabba....Nothing more...nothing less...Not one person named as the source or quoted...Let the media do the repeating constantly.....
LOL
badmanners
Roar Rookie
What???????
WillowWiz
Roar Rookie
Having said that, I do think the current Indian bowling lineup can exploit any favours the Brisbane pitch might offer and an Australian batting lineup - even with the likely inclusion of Warner - might still be too fragile to deal with the likes of Bumrah, Siraj, and Sani.
Chris Love
Roar Guru
This sort of defence of QLD and WA is a cop out. There was masses of options for both state premiers to maintain the same risk level without being complete A holes about it. They had one tool at their disposal and used it at every turn. They gave exemptions to movie stars and the like but if you were a poor Aussie not even living in a hotspot ou got screwed over. If Palachuck won't compromise I hope so badly that the she loses the Gabba test.