State of play: What is the latest on Aussie cricket season?

Afghanistan Test

What loomed as a historic match, for multiple reasons, looks increasingly unlikely to go ahead.

Let's go back to the start with this one.

Afghanistan were originally locked in to face Australia in a day-night Test at Perth Stadium last November, ahead of the Indian men's tour. That was announced in May last year when the full impact the pandemic would have on cricket was, in hindsight, severely underestimated.

Four months later when that was becoming more apparent, and particularly the increased difficulty of international travel, the one-off match was postponed and eventually rescheduled for late November 2021 and moved to Hobart.

That shaped as Tasmania's first Test in five years and local boy Tim Paine's first international game as captain in his home town.

Image Id: F7692210436646AAB3A8B1E00F3F584E Image Caption: Hobart's last Test came in 2016 when Australia lost to South Africa // Getty

But the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan after Western forces withdrew from a two-decades long war now looks to have once again scuppered the long-awaited contest.

After a Taliban spokesman told Australian broadcaster told SBS that "Islam and the Islamic Emirate do not allow women to play cricket or play the kind of sports where they get exposed" earlier this month, Cricket Australia (CA) said the Test would not go ahead if those sentiments were "substantiated".

Cricket Tasmania (CT) chief executive Dominic Baker told Triple M on Wednesday that the match would be "formally postponed" this week.

CA's Board is yet to ratify the cancellation but there is no indication the governing body has had a change of heart.

In a press release signed by Afghanistan Cricket Board's chief Hamid Shinwari, he accused CA of a "knee-jerk reaction" and suggested the development of women's cricket there has been stunted due to political instability stretching back to when Russia invaded the country in 1979.

"Nonetheless, there has been a quiet but significant development of women's cricket over the past 10 years in girls-only schools where cricket is an integral part of the health education process," wrote Shinwari.

"Since the ACB joined the International Cricket Council … (it) has been aware of our cultural and religious environment."

Image Id: 0F660AA0A15C4B82907F2D436A678A54 Image Caption: Rashid Khan's Afghanistan look unlikely to play a Test this summer // Getty

Shinwari has since been fired by the Taliban and was replaced by Naseeb Khan last week.

CT chief Baker has been unequivocal, stressing that "it's not acceptable that they don't allow female sport.

"It's about giving the Afghanistan government some direction around what they have to do to get back into sport. If they want to play competitive male sport, particularly in the cricket sphere, they're going to have to rethink what they do with female sport."

Men's Ashes

The prospects of the highly anticipated Australia-England men's Test campaign appear a bit brighter, with England officials reportedly reassured by an update from CA regarding biosecurity arrangements for the series.

England players, having had the busiest playing schedule of all cricket nations in recent times, are wary of being subjected to more time in quarantine and bubbles.

Captain Joe Root said this week that he and his teammates are awaiting more information on what the arrangements will be, and would not commit to touring until they knew what will be imposed on them.

"It's a little bit frustrating but it's where we are at," said Root. "It's so hard to know until we find out what the conditions are going to be like. Hopefully it'll be coming shortly and we can start moving forward.

"The position I'm at in my career, it could be the last opportunity I get to go (on an Ashes tour), so of course it's something you're desperate to do … (but) until we have information it's very difficult to know where everything sits."

Image Id: 3BF80F51E73B4BACA60CD2606B2EE6D3 Image Caption: 'It's very difficult to know where everything sits' // Getty

Part of the difficulty for CA is not only dealing with Australia applying some of the strictest international border policies in the world, but also the fluctuating status of internal state borders and the divergent COVID-19 restrictions of different jurisdictions.

A CA spokesperson said it and the ECB are "working constructively towards the Ashes this summer including arrangements that can be put in place for players and families from both sides.

"This includes working proactively with governments on providing the best possible conditions for both the English and Australian players.

"CA is also buoyed by the significant rise in vaccination rates across the country with all Australian and English players and support staff also being fully vaccinated. We have every confidence all matches will proceed on the scheduled dates and locations."

Various UK media outlets have reported multiple England players could pull out of the tour should restrictions be considered too onerous.

Veteran paceman Stuart Broad has declared an England team "of some description" will play in the Ashes and insisted he is eager to participate, but admitted he would not hold it against a teammate who did not feel the same.

An inter-state kerfuffle looms over whether Perth will be able to host their Ashes Test, the series finale scheduled to begin January 14, immediately after the Melbourne and Sydney Tests.

Western Australia Cricket boss Christina Matthews has requested CA consider reordering the Tests due to WA's strict border measures which, if they remain as they are at the moment, could preclude players and officials from entering from the eastern states. 

CA has ruled that out, with a spokesman telling the ABC: "At the end of the day, if we don't go to Western Australia, that's not CA's decision."

Tasmania Premier Peter Gutwein has advocated to CA for his state to host an Ashes Test.

Marsh Sheffield Shield and One-Day Cup

As it stands, there is only one game of men's domestic cricket before the BBL currently scheduled and there is even a question mark on that.

Tasmania made the decision to fly home from Brisbane on the morning of their match against reigning champions Queensland after the state reported four COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.

That was due to fears they would become hotel-bound in a fresh lockdown and unable to return to Hobart.

The status of Sunday's Marsh One-Day Cup clash between the Tigers and the Bulls is uncertain but CT chief Baker is hopeful the side can return to Brisbane on Friday, play the 50-over match and then potentially reschedule the Shield clash to next week.

"It became pretty clear to us it was much easier to jump on a plane, come home, let the situation play out and we'll fly them back when we get the all clear," Baker said on Triple M.

South Australia successfully hosted Western Australia in Adelaide for one-day and Shield games last week.

CA has not announced those teams' next matches yet and the ongoing closure of WA's border (to various degrees) to the entire eastern seaboard (including the ACT) is a further hurdle to reorganising the fixture.

The landscape is even more complex for the exiled states, New South Wales and Victoria, whose men's teams appear set to have to undergo two weeks of hotel quarantine (possibly with no training exemptions) in another state before being free to play.

If Victoria's experience of quarantine to join the Sheffield Shield bubble in Adelaide last year is anything to go by, both teams may then need even longer to be physically right to play if training exemptions cannot be secured.

CA revised last season's Shield schedule so the Vics, eager to ensure their bowlers would not break down after SA Health changed their training arrangements midway through their quarantine period, had 11 days between getting out of isolation and their first game.

The upshot of all this is Test players like Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Marnus Labuschagne and Will Pucovski are twiddling their thumbs as the days to the first Test against England count down.

It is a far cry from the extensive preparation initially expected for non-Indian Premier League and T20 World Cup players when CA scheduled six Shield rounds to be played before the Ashes opener.

Weber WBBL

Tasmania might not get a Test this summer but it will see its fair share of high-quality domestic T20 action.

The first 20 matches of the Women's Big Bash League will be played at Hobart's Blundstone Arena as well the University of Tasmania Stadium and Invermay Park (both Launceston).

Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra-based players and staff are currently completing their fortnight of quarantine in Tasmania, while a host of overseas players are also spending two weeks in hotels before the tournament kicks off on October 14.

Image Id: 4C8237D506F840F7BFE3D4D7DB28ECCA Image Caption: The first stage of WBBL|07 will be held in Tasmania // Getty

There could be another spanner thrown in the works if Tasmania closes its border to Queensland following the latest COVID-19 outbreak, which would complicate the arrival of Australian and Indian national team players when after their series finishes four days before the WBBL begins. 

Where the next stage of the WBBL will be played is yet to be finalised, though hopes of 'festival weekends' in six different states across the season, as was originally planned, are now dashed.

Women's Internationals

The entire multi-format series between Australia and India was moved to Mackay and the Gold Coast, after the matches were originally scheduled for Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

Since it began on September 21 the series has so far gone off without a hitch – apart from the Aussies' 26-game ODI win streak coming to an end.

After the hosts' 2-1 win in the ODIs, the teams now lock horns for a pink-ball Test on the Gold Coast before three T20s at the same venue. The COVID-19 situation in south-east Queensland will have some officials nervous, but Australia captain Meg Lanning said on Wednesday she was hopeful a crowd would be able to attend the Test.

The CommBank Women's Ashes are not due to get underway in Canberra until January 27, with the schedule also taking in matches in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne.

Women's National Cricket League

The start of the women's 50-over domestic season was due to start in mid-September ahead of the India series, but has been delayed until December, with the entire tournament to be played after the conclusion of the WBBL.

A new schedule has yet to be announced.