New Delhi, India

Cricket Australia on Friday said that the third Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India is still on despite a fresh COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney. The CA said that the situation is being closely monitored but was confident of pulling off the Test match.

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Australian cricket authorities were put on alert after number of coronavirus cases in Sydney reached 28 on Friday. The third Test between India and Australia at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground is slated to be played from January 7. 

"There's been lots of discussion and meetings of our medical experts, but this is the reason why throughout the summer we've had our players in bubbles in the hub," CA's interim chief executive Nick Hockley told SEN Radio. 

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"We're monitoring the situation; we're not panicking at all, staying calm... ... it's really watch, wait and see and I think the governments around the country have handled the pandemic so well, so we'll watch, learn and stay in touch."

On whether the SCG Test was in doubt, Hockley said: "I don't think so - this is the very reason why we have the hubs in place... "... whether it's the WBBL players, the BBL players, the BCCI, our own Australia squads, they have been absolutely fantastic in dealing with all the protocols.

"Our medical experts have been working around the clock, we're in very good communication with health authorities around the country. It's one of the things we've had to navigate with getting cricket up safely." 

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The latest Sydney outbreak has already had an impact on the broadcasters with former Aussie pacer and Fox Cricket commentator Brett Lee decided to go back home in northern Sydney. Whereas two Sydney-based members of the broadcasters returned back to their home base while two others decided to work from hotel.

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"If the game can be played safely (in Sydney) then we'll play it there. That's our starting point, so it's working with the health authorities to ascertain that," he said.

"We started out thinking how to play the full series as safely as possible, and we'll take the same approach over the coming days and weeks. 

"We've got contingency plans around a whole range of different options, and we've had to be agile all the way through. We were encouraged that it was 17 cases yesterday and ten today, and we'll see how that plays out over the next 72 hours." 

Before the third Test, the second match is scheduled to start at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Deceber 26 and its chief Stuart Fox said they are open to supporting CA if need be. 

"We hope that doesn't happen to Sydney. We know what it's like to lose a major event. For us, all focus is on the Boxing Day Test," he was quoted as saying by 'Sydney Morning Herald'. "We're here to support Cricket Australia if need be."