The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly had asked for a shorter quarantine period for the team’s tour Down Under suggesting he doesn’t want players ‘to go that far and sit in hotel rooms’, but the request has reportedly been denied.
The newly-appointed Cricket Australia CEO, Nick Hockley, stressed on the need to have a two-week-long quarantine period but not without training facilities. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Hockley said that CA will ensure that the players will have the best of training facilities within the quarantine zone that will allow them to prepare for the matches in the best possible manner.
“The two-week quarantine is pretty well-defined,” Hockley said. “What we are working on is making sure that even within that quarantine environment, the players have got the absolute best training facilities, so that their preparation for the matches is as optimal as it can possibly be. We’ll obviously take the guidance of the health experts and the authorities.”
The details of the quarantine unit are yet to be finalised. Hockley admitted that the CA has not yet decided whether it will be one on-site hotel or multiple hotels in close proximity that will accommodate players in the bio-secure bubble.
“Whether it’s a hotel on-site or hotels in close proximity to venues, it’s certainly about creating that environment where we are minimising risk of infections and creating a biosecure environment is the absolute priority. There’s a huge amount at stake if we are unable to do that. Certainly, the fact that the Adelaide Oval has a hotel…it does provide a facility not dissimilar to Old Trafford or Ageas Bowl where the hotels are integrated into venue.”
