Australia Covid outbreak: BBL, Ashes, ATP Cup affected – Australia is facing its fourth wave of Covid-19 and multiple sporting events have been interrupted. BBL 2021 match between Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Stars had to be postponed while the Ashes has already been affected with Channel 7 crew testing positive beside Pat Cummins missing a game. In tennis, there have been multiple cases of Covid-19 affecting the ATP Cup, Adelaide International and other warm-up events to the Australian Open. Follow Ashes 2021, BBL 2021, ATP Cup 2022 Live Updates on InsideSport.IN.
Ashes 2021: Australia captain Pat Cummins missed the 2nd Test after a close contact at a restaurant tested positive. He had to spend a week in isolation. It was followed by Covid cases in England camp with two support staff and two family members testing positive for the virus. During the 3rd test, a Channel 7 crew tested positive, delaying the start of Day 2. On Thursday, ICC match referee for the 4th Test David Boon also tested positive, ruling him out of the next match. Steve Bernard will be the match referee for the 4th Test.
Australia Covid outbreak: Covid strikes Australia’s sporting events, multiple outbreaks in Ashes, BBL, ATP Cup – Follow Live Updates
BREAKING: Coach Chris Silverwood forced to isolate and will miss SCG Test. Seventh positive in England’s camp. No players so far. 4 family. 3 staff.
— Peter Lalor (@plalor) December 29, 2021
Another casualty was England head coach Chris Silverwood who was forced into isolation after one of his family members tested positive. He will miss the 4th Test starting January 5.
Steve Bernard will take over from David Boon as match referee for the fourth Vodafone men’s #Ashes Test match in Sydney.
Full statement 👇 pic.twitter.com/jLow20LWGL
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) December 30, 2021
Australia Covid outbreak: Covid strikes Australia’s sporting events, multiple outbreaks in Ashes, BBL, ATP Cup – Follow Live Updates
BBL 2021: PRS vs MLS match postponed: On Thursday, another casualty was BBL 2021 match between Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Stars. Fox Sport reported that a member of the Melbourne Stars coaching staff tested positive for the virus, forcing the entire team into isolation. The match will now be played at a later date while Stars’ other games could also be postponed.
Unfortunately, tonight’s game will not go ahead as scheduled 😔⤵️ pic.twitter.com/0Ku7fY20qo
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 30, 2021
Australia Covid outbreak: Covid strikes Australia’s sporting events, multiple outbreaks in Ashes, BBL, ATP Cup – Follow Live Updates
Tennis: ATP Cup, Adelaide International 1 and Melbourne Open all have been affected with multiple pullouts. On Thursday, former French Open runners-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova tested positive and had to pull out of the Adelaide International. On Wednesday, Austria had to withdraw from ATP Cup after star player Dominic Thiem tested positive.
“France has become a late addition to the 16-country 2022 ATP Cup, replacing Austria in Group B following the withdrawals of Dominic Thiem and Dennis Novak. World No. 35 Ugo Humbert will lead the Frenchmen as he is joined by Arthur Rinderknech, Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Fabrice Martin in Sydney,” the ATP Cup organisers said in a statement.
Australia Covid outbreak: Covid strikes Australia’s sporting events, multiple outbreaks in Ashes, BBL, ATP Cup – Follow Live Updates
On December 29, Australia recorded over 18,000 new cases.