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Further changes to this year's Big Bash schedule look inevitable as Sydney and Melbourne continue to battle COVID-19 outbreaks.
Scheduled Big Bash League fixtures in Sydney and Melbourne in the final rounds of the tournament are looking increasingly likely to be moved away from the two cities.
With both cities continuing to battle COVID-19 outbreaks which have forced various border restrictions to be placed upon travellers in and out of NSW and Victoria, organisers are understood to be considering further changes to this summer's schedule.
The competition's two Melbourne teams, the Stars and Renegades, and Sydney's Thunder and Sixers, have been unable to play at home so far this season and may yet play the whole tournament on the road.
Hobart, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and the Gold Coast have all hosted matches with teams staying in hubs to meet biosecurity protocols.
After their seven-wicket loss to the Sixers on the Gold Coast on Sunday, the Strikers are set to travel back to South Australia where they will play their next three matches at the Adelaide Oval.
They are then scheduled to play the Thunder on January 24 at Spotless Stadium in Sydney.
It seems however unlikely that match will be played at the venue with another Queensland Hub or even an Adelaide one understood to be in the frame for remaining fixtures scheduled in Sydney or Melbourne.
"Not yet," Strikers captain Alex Carey said when asked about if he'd been given any idea whether his team would be expected to travel to Sydney or not.
"I'd imagine some information will come out soon.
"One of those years where we just jump on the plane and wherever we end up we go and play cricket and the guys are doing a great job and being really flexible that way."
It's not just domestically where COVID is creating havoc with the Strikers' forward planning.
The long-term availability of star spinner Rashid Khan remains in doubt with uncertainty over Afghanistan's three-match one-day series against Ireland in the UAE later this month.
Carey admits he doesn't know when Khan would have to depart the Strikers to link up with his national team or if the series will even go ahead.
"Nah, I'm not sure. We love Rash at the Adelaide Strikers," he said.
"We love the energy he brings and obviously the skills that he brings. It'd be great to have him (for the whole tournament)."
