Cricket Australia at crossroads with South Australia government over decision to exclude Pat Cummins for the second Test
Australia captain Pat Cummins has been allowed to leave his hotel isolation in Adelaide and depart for Sydney after returning a negative CPR test report on Thursday. The pacer has received approval from the team management as well as the medical staff and will leave via a private charter plane.
#BREAKING: Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins has been identified as a COVID close contact, creating chaos for the team hours before the second Ashes Test. | EXCLUSIVE @tomdecent theage.com.au/sport/cricket/…
The 28-year-old had to sit out the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval after being deemed as a close contact to a COVID-19 infected person.
Upon declaring Cummins' absence, Cricket Australia had said:
"Under the plan approved by SA Health, he will self-drive from isolation and then, with the appropriate PPE and hygiene controls, take a single charter flight. Cricket Australia will continue to consult with SA Health to ensure compliance with the plan. He will continue to observe all isolation requirements in NSW."
South Australia's Premier, Steven Marshall, went on record to state that the decision not to let Cummins play was made by Cricket Australia. He claimed the verdict was made before official health authorities could interview Cummins.
Marshall did add that they did not want Cummins to play either as it would have made players of both teams to become close contact cases. The situation then could have escalated and might have jeopardized the third Test.
"I don’t think it was in anybody’s interest to have a potential person who was infected playing Ashes because it could potentially throw the entire series out. That was a decision that was made before we’d even conducted the interview."
Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley responds to comments made by SA premier Steven Marshall regarding Pat Cummins.
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Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley contradicted the claims by saying that South Australia Health were constantly involved in the decision-making process.
"We called an emergency meeting with our contacts at SA health and they confirmed Pat would be treated as a close contact, so it was very much a collective decision and we had that confirmation through from SA Health. We knew (Cummins was a close contact) ahead of time through our discussions with SA Health."
Pat Cummins made a dream debut as Australia's Test captain
Cummins was appointed Australia's Test team captain after Tim Paine chose to step down from the role due to his involvement in an off-field scandal. Cummins led the team to a massive victory in his maiden fixture as skipper and is expected to feature in the Boxing Day Test.
Vice-captain Steve Smith took up the leadership role in Cummins' absence in the second Test. At the end of play on Day 2, England were struggling at 17/2 after Australia declared at 473 for the loss of nine wickets.
The Boxing Day Test is slated to be contested from December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.