Australia back in action and pushing for full Test summer

Cricket Australia has reaffirmed its intentions for a full Test summer, including an inaugural match against Afghanistan, saying it will work with its star players on a case-by-case basis to manage their workloads during a rescheduled Indian Premier League that falls in between a limited-overs tour of England and the scheduled start of the home internationals.

With players set to face a two-week quarantine period on their return home, there's a risk that some of Australia's biggest names would be out of action until late November if they went the full distance in the lucrative T20 tournament, that is now scheduled to be held between September 19 and November 10.

Australia's Test summer is currently scheduled to begin with a maiden Test against Afghanistan at Perth's Optus Stadium from November 21, but a mountain of work has gone into planning for a range of scenarios amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

CA's Executive General Manager of National Teams, Ben Oliver, today said CA backed its players travelling to the UAE for the rescheduled tournament amid what is quickly becoming a packed schedule following five months without cricket.

"With the rescheduling of the tournament due to COVID, it's created some challenges, I'll be honest about that," Oliver told reporters today.

"We're working through that individually with each of the players.

"Our starting point is to support the tournament, to support the players playing in that tournament.

"But equally we also need to make sure we're doing everything we can to support our home summer.

"Knitting that together is the process we're undertaking at the moment.

Several of Afghanistan's star players, including Adelaide Strikers fan favourite Rashid Khan, will also feature in the IPL.

"We're doing everything we can to get those (Test) matches played," Oliver said.

"It's not without its challenges, there's no doubt there's some complexity in the schedule, there's some complexity in our ability to move around the country.

"But we've got some great support and commitment from our various partners including Afghanistan and India.

"So we're working through that now and pleasingly everyone is committed to doing everything we can to get as much cricket played as possible.

"It's the same way for this tour of England, with the health and safety of our players at the forefront of our thinking and the non-negotiable being our commitments and obligation to public health.

"Within that context, we're doing everything we can and remain optimistic and hopeful about delivering the whole Test summer."

The COVID-19 pandemic had forced the IPL to be postponed from its usual April-May window and, with India still gripped by the coronavirus, the tournament filled the void left by the postponed T20 World Cup.

Oliver said CA was working with the Board of Control for Cricket in India as well as local broadcast partners and the federal and state governments in a complex and fast-moving scheduling scenario.

"(The question is) how do we make this work as best as we can across all our cricket we've got scheduled for this summer," Oliver said.

"Flowing on from that will be discussions with individual players about their schedules through the IPL and on return to Australia."

There are 17 Australians contracted for this year's IPL, including Test stars Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, David Warner and Josh Hazlewood.

CA also stands to benefit financially from allowing players to participate in the IPL. The league typically pays a release fee of between 10 and 20 percent of the full value of the players' contracts to their home boards. The 17 Australians contracted for this year's IPL hold contracts now worth a collective A$16m.

Australia's assistant coach Andrew McDonald will also be at the IPL where he is head coach of the Rajasthan Royals, prompting CA to find replacements for the limited-overs tour of England announced today.

"When Andrew came on board that was part of our agreement with him, that he would continue as head coach of the Rajasthan Royals and we're really comfortable with that," Oliver said.

"We believe that is a beneficial outcome for Andrew's development as a coach, but also for our team and our players – having someone who's getting that experience and bringing it back into our environment.

"With three white-ball World Cups coming up in the next three years, two of those in India, we think it's a really valuable experience for both Andrew and our team."

Australia's road to the next World Cup will take its next steps in a biosecure bubble in England, with an inflated 21-player squad for the three ODIs and three T20s announced today.

Oliver said players were being monitored for illness daily, with several under self-isolation measures – particularly those from the current COVID hotspots in Victoria and New South Wales.

The Australian team will be tested prior to departure on a charter flight to the UK but will not need to quarantine on arrival due to the 'air bridge' established by the UK government.

The squad, including uncapped players Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe and Daniel Sams, will be based at Derby where they will play a series of intra-squad games before travelling to England's south coast for three T20s at Southampton's Rose Bowl.

Three ODIs will then be played at Old Trafford in Manchester before the players not included in the IPL will return home for a two-week quarantine period, the details of which are yet to be finalised.

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