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regular-article-logo Thursday, 25 April 2024

Fans to get taste of Tests

Up to 27,000 spectators will be allowed at the Adelaide Oval for the first ever Day-Night Test between India and Australia

Our Bureau, Agencies Calcutta, Sydney Published 11.11.20, 01:49 AM
The Adelaide Oval

The Adelaide Oval Shutterstock

Cricket Australia on Tuesday announced that up to 27,000 spectators, which is 50 per cent of the total capacity, will be allowed at the Adelaide Oval for the first ever Day-Night Test between India and Australia, starting December 17.

Fans will also be allowed in the other Test venues.

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The Indian team will be playing three ODIs, as many T20Is and four Tests. The tour will begin on November 27 with the first ODI in Sydney, while the Test series starts on December 17 in Adelaide.

The Adelaide Oval is restricted to 50 per cent capacity, with 27,000 tickets available for each day of the opening Day-Night Test, the Cricket Australia website reported. It will be the first-ever pink-ball Test the two sides play against each other.

Australia have hosted four Day-Night Test matches in Adelaide; India have played only one, against Bangladesh last year at Eden Gardens.

The Boxing Day Test, scheduled to be played between December 26 to 30 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, is restricted to 25 per cent of the total capacity crowd by the Victorian government, while the fourth Test at Brisbane can host up to 30,000 fans or 75 per cent of its capacity.

“We’re going to give all priority to safety, but we’ll continue to work with the authorities to see if we can increase those capacities a bit as we move forward,” CA interim chief executive Nick Hockley told Australian radio station SEN.

At present, the Victorian Government has approved 25,000 fans for each day of the Boxing Day Test across public, member and corporate tickets, said the CA website.

“With the improving Covid-19 situation in the city, it is hoped more tickets may be able to be put on sale closer to the time, but this is yet to be confirmed,” the report said.

The second Test to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground also has a cap of 23,000, which is 50 per cent of its total capacity. “The SCG, which will host the traditional Pink Test from January 7 — the third in the Test Series — is limited to 50 per cent of total capacity or 23,000 fans.”

The Indian contingent are due to arrive in Sydney on Thursday to begin two weeks of quarantine at a hotel at Sydney Olympic Park, during which time they will be able to train at Blacktown International Sportspark as part of an arrangement signed off between Cricket Australia and the NSW government last month.

The India squad will share a chartered flight from Dubai with Australian players who took part in the IPL there over the past eight weeks. They will also stay in the same hotel at the Olympic Park precinct during their 14-day quarantine period but train at separate times at Blacktown.

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