Victoria’s squad for one-day and Sheffield Shield fixtures against New South Wales in Sydney will be travelling north on Sunday morning after agreement was reached to allow them to escape the current Covid-19 lockdown in the state.
Following lengthy talks involving Cricket Victoria (CV), Cricket NSW, Cricket Australia and the NSW and Victoria state governments, the squad will be permitted to train and play, while otherwise abiding by the lockdown conditions currently being applied in Victoria until at least Thursday.
NSW are set to host Victoria in a one-day game at the North Sydney Oval on Monday with up to 1100 spectators allowed, before a Shield match between the sides at the SCG from Wednesday.
“The Victorian men’s team will travel to Sydney under the Victorian Government’s essential workers provision for professional athletes,” a CV spokesman said. “The squad will be permitted to train and play, and will adhere to current Victorian lockdown conditions while in Sydney as per NSW Government requirements.
“Cricket Victoria would like to thank the NSW Government, the Victorian Government and Cricket Australia for their support and guidance on the matter. The squad is scheduled to depart Melbourne on Sunday morning ahead of their first Marsh One-Day Cup fixture on Monday against NSW at North Sydney Oval.”
The Monday fixture is also significant for being Australia national team’s current vice-captain Pat Cummins’ state captaincy debut, as he will be leading NSW in the white-ball games, while Peter Nevill retains the Shield leadership role.
Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @danbrettig
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