With bushfires raging in the region, the threat of smoke disruption during the Sydney Test between Australia and New Zealand remains strong. Cricket Australia, however, have declared that they will prioritise the health of players and spectators if conditions are hazardous, and paid tribute to those affected.
Over a thousand homes in New South Wales have been destroyed in recent weeks, lives lost and a state of emergency declared in the region. Conditions in an already hazy Sydney are expected to worsen on Saturday, the second day of the Test.
While it will be up to the match referee to take a call on suspending play if air quality gets poor, Cricket Australia said they had a process in place to help him make that call.
“Basically, when it goes smoky, we’re coming off,” Tim Paine said on Thursday, even as he deferred to the wisdom of “world-class doctors and people that are put in place to make those decisions”.
Sharing the sentiment, coach Justin Langer said: “It will be the first time I’ll ever say this in my life, I hope it rains a bit during the Test because Sydney needs it. I hope it rains at night so we can keeping playing, but Sydney, like lots of Australia, needs the rain. We’ll keep an eye on it, we’ll do as well as we can, but our hearts go out. We are so privileged with what we do. A lot of people are suffering … It’s a really tough time, all we can do is put a smile on their face by playing some good cricket.”
“It’s bloody horrible, shocking, and it’s been going on for so long,” New Zealand spinner Will Somerville, who spent much of his life in Sydney, said. “I don’t know what more to say. There’s talk about smoke delaying this game, but who cares, it doesn’t mean anything compared with what people are going through trying to fight those fires.”
