Concerns over Adelaide Test ease with South Australia lockdown lifted

The prospect of the opening Test between Australia and India remaining in Adelaide has received a boost with South Australia to come out of its strict Covid-19 lockdown three days early on Saturday.

The state was put into a hard six-day lockdown on Thursday amid growing concerns around a Covid-19 cluster which emerged last weekend, but on Friday it was announced that new information had come to light which would allow an early loosening of restrictions.

Last week Cricket Australia flew international and BBL players into New South Wales to avoid the risk of them being unable to travel if further borders were closed.

A number of players who had been involved in the Sheffield Shield hub which finished in Adelaide earlier this month had to go into self-isolation in their home states when the cluster emerged, but CA was able to get approval for those involved in the limited-overs and Australia A squads to fly to Sydney.

Currently the South Australia-Victoria border is closed but it is hoped that it can reopen on December 1 if the Covid cluster is kept under control. That will be a key part of staging the first Test in Adelaide on December 17 because the teams then need to be able to travel to Melbourne ahead of the Boxing Day Test.

Throughout last week CA remained committed to hosting the opening Test as planned in Adelaide even if restrictions mean reduced or no crowds.

The tour starts with the first ODI at the SCG on November 27 with the three ODIs and three T20Is split between Sydney and Canberra. As of Friday, all but one of the six limited-overs game had sold out with just under 2000 tickets remaining for the first ODI. Both venues are operating at 50% capacity.