Cricket Australia Reduces The Capacity Of Sydney Cricket Ground To 25 Percent Following A Surge In Covid Cases

Cricket Australia has decided to reduce the capacity of Sydney Cricket Ground to 25℅ for the upcoming Test between hosts Australia and Team India, starting January 07.

The response comes after New South Wales recorded another spike in Covid-19 cases. Cricket Australia had earlier decided to keep the capacity of the SCG for the New Year Test to 50℅ but due to the recent spike, it had been advised by the New South Wales government to reduce it by 25℅ i.e 10,000 spectators.

The SCG kickstarted the Australian home summer after it played hosts to 2 ODIs and as many T20Is. The iconic venue at the time was allowed to host 18000 spectators but with Sydney experiences consistent spikes in Covid cases over the past few weeks, its rights of playing host to the traditional New Year pink Test almost went to Melbourne.

“In response to the public health situation in NSW, we are working closely with Venues NSW and NSW Health to put appropriate biosecurity measures in place for our staff, players, match officials, broadcasters and fans to ensure we play the third Test at the SCG safely,” said CA interim CEO, Nick Hockley.

“Reducing the capacity of the venue is crucial in achieving social distancing requirements, and we sincerely thank ticketholders for their patience, as we process refunds today, reconfigure the SCG seating plan to deliver these social distancing measures and go back on sale,” he added.

All the purchased ticket-holders will receive a full refund which includes all associate costs including ticket insurance.

“Tickets will be back on sale exclusively to those who have already bought a seat at 5 pm AEDT on January 4, with remaining tickets released at midday AEDT on January 5,” Hockley said.

“To date, we have been able to deliver a safe and successful summer of cricket thanks to our detailed bio-security protocols, the cooperation, and support of public health officials, and the hard work of so many people behind the scenes, ” he added.

Both India and Australia will travel to Sydney on January 04. They will do two days of training before locking horns against each other in the all-important Test on January 07.

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