Cricket Australia Chief Executive Nick Hockley has asked fans to respect the social distancing and other COVID-19 guidelines amid the incident that ruled Australia captain Pat Cummins out of the second Ashes Test against England as well. However, Cummins was not allowed to play and was withdrawn on the eve of the match after coming to close contact with a customer in a restaurant in Adelaide who has returned a positive COVID-19 test.

“Everyone now needs to be extra vigilant because we’ve had a very high-profile case of disruption. That’s where we need to make sure there’s social distancing, so we ask everyone to be respectful in the public,” Hockley told SEN radio.

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“That’s the real shame because what we have seen is players wanting to interact with fans. But we’ve now got very clear protocols. As it comes to those on the field of play we need to make sure that people are operating in a really biosecure way,” he further added.

However, the emergence of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 has seen an increasing number of positive cases in Melbourne and Sydney. And, since both the cities are ready to host the next two Ashes tests, players are asked to take additional caution.

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“We’re always on high alert. I think it’s a wake-up call for everyone across the game. It’s a wake-up call for sport. It’s not unique to sport in Australia or around the globe. We’re seeing a fair bit of disruption. The decisions now we need to make within the protocols are making sure that when out in public the players are out in small groups, so we’re not taking out a whole team (with COVID) and that people are generally in outdoor settings, we’re socially distancing, and all those sorts of things. It’s our clear protocols supported by a really healthy dose of common sense,” Nick Hockley said.