Positive COVID athletes may be allowed to play at Games

Alyssa Healy is sceptical Australia’s T20 squad will make it through the Commonwealth Games unscathed by COVID, but Australia's team boss Petria Thomas is hopeful all athletes will be able to compete in Birmingham.

A positive COVID test will not necessarily preclude an athlete from competing at the Games, given the United Kingdom’s relatively relaxed guidelines for isolation.

It is a marked difference from recent global events including the 50-over World Cup in New Zealand, where Australia allrounder Ashleigh Gardner spent 10 days in isolation after testing positive, missing two matches.

In Birmingham, players across all disciplines will be assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine their availability to compete should they return a positive test.

Factors taken into account will include how severely they have been impacted by illness, how infectious they are likely to be, their sport and the facility in which they would be competing.

"COVID unfortunately has been an ongoing challenge," Australia's team chef de mission Thomas told AAP on Wednesday.

"We're managing various cases as they pop up so our COVID team has done a mountain of work trying to make sure people can get to the Games and for our athletes to be able to get to the start line."

"At this stage we are certainly hoping that all of the athletes can get to their competition and perform at their best.

"But it's certainly a lot of management throughout the process and making sure that we are looking after the people affected and also making sure the infection control measures are in place around the rest of the team as well."

Australia’s 15-player squad arrived safely into their Commonwealth Games Village on Sunday, having successfully passed COVID testing on arrival.

But the threat remains present despite the Australian Commonwealth Games team taking precautions above and beyond those of other countries, which include limiting the movements of athletes outside the village.

Between 150 and 200 athletes from Australia's 430-strong team are expected to march at Thursday night's opening ceremony.

But Healy and her teammates are among those opting to miss the ceremony, in part to minimise the COVID risk, and also due to the early 11am local start to Friday’s opener against India.

"We have taken quite a cautious approach, knowing that if one goes down there's potential that more in the team will go down," Healy told reporters on Wednesday.

"I think all the girls are super professional in how they handle that and how they respond to that.

"We hope it doesn't come into our group. But I think that's a pipe dream. I'm sure it will at some point.

"We're just making sure we're doing what we can to minimise that risk."

Australia's team are split across five locations in Birmingham; organisers had planned a single athletes village but construction was delayed because of COVID-related supply issues.

The Australians have been banned from supporting their teammates at other events due to the threat of COVID and must wear face masks indoors when not in their rooms or exercising.

However they are permitted to purchase takeaway coffee and food, and Australia’s cricketers have been making the most of the opportunity to leave their village on the outskirts of the city centre to visit the main village at the University of Birmingham.

Strict hygiene protocols are also being enforced with Thomas confident Australia has done all it can to prevent any COVID outbreak.

"We are probably doing more than potentially any other country here to try and keep our team members infection free," Thomas said.

"We have got an amazing COVID response team that is working around the clock to try and manage the cases that have popped up.

"Certainly our testing protocols have been really beneficial to catch people who were testing positive seven to 10 days before arriving.

"And that has really assisted us to manage those people and make sure that they can get here. They might be delayed in some cases but that also minimises the risk to the rest of the team."

- with AAP

2022 Commonwealth Games

Australia's squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Amanda-Jade Wellington

See all the Commonwealth Games cricket squads here

Group A: Australia, India, Pakistan, Barbados

Group B: England, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka

July 29: Australia v India (11am local, 8pm AEST)

July 31: Australia v Barbados (6pm local, 3am Aug 1 AEST)

August 3: Australia v Pakistan (11am local, 8pm AEST)

Semi-finals: August 6, 11am local (8pm AEST) and 6pm local (3am Aug 7 AEST)

Bronze medal match: August 7, 10am local (7pm AEST)

Gold medal match: August 7, 5pm local (2am Aug 8 AEST)

All matches played at Edgbaston Stadium