3rd Test at the SCG, Sydney, 7 Jan - 11 Jan 2021

[Burgey]

It is not like he will suddenly morph into someone else at home. That late foot movement and backswing will bite him even in India against guys who can bowl 140+ and bring the back in. This is not the same Prithivi who debuted against Windies, something seems even more off about him since his return from the injury and the subsequent ban.

The roids aged him terribly. He went from looking like a young Stallone in Rocky to Donald Sutherland in The Undoing. A sad demise.

 

[Son Of Coco]

What ground is that??

According to my extensive (i.e.: 10 second) Google image search to find a ground in Dubbo this is somewhere in that fine town. It's a grand total of none of the grounds we played on when we went there back in '05 though, so I'm not sure if it actually exists.

It's pretty mild weather there this week too. Not your usual low to mid 40s:

http://www.bom.gov.au/nsw/forecasts/dubbo.shtml

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Please schedule a test match in Gympie

 

[TimAngas]

So crowd capacity down to 25%. Still three days to go until the event and who knows how much pressure on the government and organisers will increase in the lead-up. Hope this doesn't turn out like the Grand Prix last March, being called off on the morning of, after appearing untenable for days.

 

[Spark]

I'm pretty confident they'll play, but not at all confident there'll be a crowd in.

Having said that, there's still no evidence these two outbreaks (Avalon and Berala) are actually out of control and growing rapidly. The risk is objectively low.

 

[vicleggie]

Just play with no crowd ffs

$ is mainly from TV anyway

Sydney siders should be isolating at home..lest they spread like rats to Melbourne and infect us...oh wait, they already did

 

[Senile Sentry]

Contradictory if crowds allowed but players in hotel quarantine, says Team India

Team source also reveals that information received about Brisbane last week regarding hotel confinement was not accepted

m.cricbuzz.com

 

[Spark]

Contradictory if crowds allowed but players in hotel quarantine, says Team India

Team source also reveals that information received about Brisbane last week regarding hotel confinement was not accepted

m.cricbuzz.com

If this is their stance then they are idiots. The viewing public aren't the ones asking for special exemptions from the rules that everyone else has to follow.

 

[Senile Sentry]

Its a shame if the players are asked to shut themselves in their rooms. Its upto authorities to ensure at least hotels are secured as bio bubbles.

 

[Senile Sentry]

If this is their stance then they are idiots. The viewing public aren't the ones asking for special exemptions from the rules that everyone else has to follow.

Viewing public and players cannot have different rules is what their argument is.

I dont know if that is the case, but if it is then they do have a point.

 

[Gnske]

The "team source" is always a dodgy one tbh.

But under the premise the source of accurate, all i can say is **** the *****. What an entitled bunch of ****ing whiners, animals in a zoo staying in a 5 star hotel? Please I've never seen an animal get paid handsomely to be in a zoo.

 

[Senile Sentry]

Of course, if it comes to a situation where crowds aren't allowed at all, and everyone has to sit at home except for exceptional needs like get groceries, then players have the obligation to follow suit.

But thst doesn't still justify treating them as caged animals in their hotel rooms. They should atleast have the freedom to meet other players and train together.

 

[Spark]

Viewing public and players cannot have different rules is what their argument is.

I dont know if that is the case, but if it is then they do have a point.

They do have different rules, in their favour. The viewing public isn't allowed to cross the NSW-QLD border without mandatory hotel quarantine - even, I might add, going to your parent's funeral or being at their bedside for their last moment. They are, for now.

I'm sympathetic to their broader case of hotel quarantine being shitty but my sympathy will drain quickly if they go "well what about the crowds".

 

[Daemon]

He then reiterated the challenges that come with spending long periods inside a bubble or in quarantine like the Indian players have over the past few months, and also the sacrifices that they've made while being in Australia.

"Our players have made lots of sacrifices on this tour like Mohammad Siraj not being able to go back to attend his father's funeral. Some of our boys have been inside a bubble for nearly six months and it's not been easy for anyone," he added.

This is the only fair point in there.

The visitors have stuck to their stance of wanting to be treated as "normal Australians" and have said that they are prepared to follow the "government protocols" that everyone else in the respective state has to abide by.

This is hot trash though. 'Normal Australians' aren't even allowed to enter the state from where they're coming.

 

[Senile Sentry]

They do have different rules, in their favour. The viewing public isn't allowed to cross the NSW-QLD border without mandatory hotel quarantine - even, I might add, going to your parent's funeral or being at their bedside for their last moment. They are, for now.

And the players are asking for no exceptions here AFAIK. They want to be in Sydney like most of them.

And before we start sprouting moralistic high views, Siraj hasn't been able to go back to India despite his father's death.

 

[Gnske]

They do have different rules, in their favour. The viewing public isn't allowed to cross the NSW-QLD border without mandatory hotel quarantine - even, I might add, going to your parent's funeral or being at their bedside for their last moment. They are, for now.

I'm sympathetic to their broader case of hotel quarantine being ****ty but my sympathy will drain quickly if they go "well what about the crowds".

Plus it's these specific protocols that make overseas tours still feasible in this climate anyway, of course there are going to be different protocols to that which are applied to the general local public, no ****.

 

[cnerd123]

"The players only went indoors to eat because it started raining. We don't understand why those five players need to be isolated or be asked to sit separately on the flight, especially after they have tested negative for the virus," the insider said.

can anyone confirm this?

 

[Senile Sentry]

I think overall it was stupid of BCCI to tour Australia at this juncture. I think they are the ones who caged the players in a bio bubble zoo ever since IPL, caring **** about their mental welfare and treating them as expendable because $$$. And they do not even have the brains to schedule a parallel A tour like Pakistan did, allowing more flexibility especially in terms of injuries and replacements. Not to mention.the feel good factor of having more of their ilk together.

And its a pretty pathetic argument that players are getting paid big money so they have to be better shut up and suck it up. That's basically slavery.

 

[Spark]

And the players are asking for no exceptions here AFAIK. They want to be in Sydney like most of them.

And before we start sprouting moralistic high views, Siraj hasn't been able to go back to India despite his father's death.

You've missed the point completely, unsurprisingly. The point is that the fact they've been given exemptions is significant and just one sign of the special dispensation they've been given.

 

[Senile Sentry]

can anyone confirm this?

But but they are getting paid millions so can't they stand in the rain and eat ?