Australia will take guard in the Pink-ball Test without captain Pat Cummins as he has been ruled out due to Covid-19 concerns. The player was in contact with a Covid-19 positive person and therefore according to current guidelines was asked to self-isolate. Cummins who led Australia to a win on his captaincy debut will likely serve a seven-day isolation whereas vice-captain Steve Smith will take over the captaincy. Queensland seamer Michael Neser has been named as a replacement and will make his debut.
“Gutted to miss this Test but really excited to see Neser finally get his chance in the baggy green. He has done the hard yards and is a seriously skillful player. Super frustrating but COVID has thrown us all some curve balls over the last couple of years. Will be cheering along!” a Twitter post from Cummins read.
The player was attending a dinner party with fellow cricketer and friend Harry Conway. The two players are close mates from their time at New South Wales (NSW) Blues. The dinner party was attended by another person who was found to have contracted Covid-19. As per current Cricket Australia (CA) guidelines, Cummins needed to self-isolate himself.
Neser will get his opportunity to make his debut, but on the other hand former captain, Smith will once again take over the captaincy for the Australian side for the first time since the sandpapergate scandal which led to one-year ban. Australia comes into the Adelaide Test with a 1-0 lead, knowing that a win in Adelaide will establish an iron grip over the Ashes 2020-21.
The Covid-19 issues in international sports have created a brawl with several West Indies players contracting the virus on their tour to Pakistan. Recently English Premier League (EPL) also witnessed a similar outbreak with fixtures of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspurs getting postponed. The situation can only get worse with the outbreak of the Omicron variant in different parts of the world.
