Recalling the experience of playing an international match behind closed doors, New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor said that it felt like he was playing a club game in terms of the atmosphere, but quickly pointed out that it made no difference to the level or quality of competition.
New Zealand played Australia in the first ODI of a three-match series at an empty Sydney Cricket Ground on March 13, in what turned out to be the last international fixture before the world went into lockdown due to Covid-19.
Looking back at the experience, Taylor said that the preparations were a little strange because of the uncertainty surrounding the match. However, he was quick to acknowledge that the feeling of playing in an empty stadium, whatever it may be, is something all players will have to embrace quickly, with that increasingly looking like the future of the game until the pandemic is eradicated completely.
“You have to adapt, and that may well be something players will have to get their head around to allow them to be back on the park. When something is taken away from you, you are often more than happy to compromise to get back to some sort of normality and do what you love doing, and that’s play cricket.”
