3 minute read

Interim Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley has warned there is a "huge amount at stake" if this summer's international calendar does not proceed as planned.

Australian cricket has been keeping an eye on the arch-enemy as it prepares to navigate the most complex Test summer in history.

England are locked at one-all in their three-Test home series against the West Indies - the first international cricket played since March.

After the inevitable postponement of October's Twenty20 World Cup in Australia due to COVID-19, attention quickly turns to the four-Test series with India.

Despite major doubts over Afghanistan arriving Down Under, Cricket Australia's interim chief executive Nick Hockley says it is committed to hosting the historic one-off Test in Perth in November before the battle with India.

"We want to see Test cricket back up and running. At the moment, the schedule is as it is," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"What's clear is we're going to need a level of flexibility.

"You only have to look at the winter codes; it's going to be by no means a normal summer.

"Getting certainty in this environment is not always possible. It is just massively complex.

"We've been watching very closely how the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) have delivered their international series against the West Indies.

"Minimising the risk of infections and creating a bio-secure environment this summer is the absolute priority because there's just a huge amount at stake if we're unable to do that."

Hockley said discussions with the powerful Indian cricket board (BCCI) about the Australian tour had been positive.

"We're working on even in that quarantine environment that the players have got the absolute best training facilities," he said.

"We will need to get travel exemptions. It's unlikely that international travel restrictions will have lifted by the time India will be due to come into the country."

Hockley believes it is "premature" to speculate if Australian players will be forced to choose between domestic cricket and the Indian Premier League.

The BCCI is adamant on the IPL taking the now-vacant October-November international slot previously occupied by the T20 World Cup.

CA is yet to release a domestic schedule for 2020-21 but the season traditionally begins in October.