MELBOURNE: Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley said he was optimistic on Wednesday that the five-Test Ashes series against England can be played in front of crowds as scheduled this year, despite coronavirus (Covid-19) concerns.

The series is due to start in Brisbane on Dec 8 before moving to Adelaide, followed by the traditional Boxing Day Test in Melbourne then Sydney and Perth.

While Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth are largely virus-free and fans are allowed into venues, Sydney and Melbourne are both in lockdown battling outbreaks of the Delta variant with case numbers and deaths rising.

Some state borders are also closed, complicating matters.

Hockley told local media rising vaccination rates in Australia and the prospect of ‘vaccine passports’ gave him optimism that the series could go ahead as planned.

“We’re hopeful that with vaccination rates increasing that we will be able to complete the series as currently scheduled,” he said.

After a glacial roll-out, nationwide vaccination efforts have accelerated in recent weeks with 40 percent of adults now fully jabbed.

Hockley said that Cricket Australia had learned from the last 18 months that agility was the watchword when planning cricket tours during the global health crisis but that shifting matches to other venues would be a last resort.

“At the moment, based on vaccination rates, we’re very hopeful we’ll be able to have crowds in Melbourne and Sydney, Hockley said.

“The Ashes is so big, every Test has its own unique character, in the first instance we’ll be doing everything we possibly can to play the schedule as planned and very hopeful and optimistic that we will have crowds.

“The one thing I’ve learnt through this last 18 months is that things can change really, really quickly. We’ve got a range of protocols that fit any given circumstance and we’ll react accordingly. I think it’s too early to tell.”

Australia are due to play Afghanistan in a one-off Test in Hobart beginning from Nov 27 ahead of the Ashes, but the Taliban’s takeover of the Asian country has created complications in the absence of its commitment to women’s sport.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2021