Hazlewood: Players want Gabba back-up if Adelaide out

Josh Hazlewood would like to see the first Test against India become a red-ball contest at the Gabba if a venue change is required, but the star paceman expects he will fly to Adelaide in three weeks as planned.

South Australia is entering a hard lockdown for six days as Adelaide grapples with a coronavirus outbreak, casting fresh doubt on whether the four-match Vodafone Test Series between Australia and India will start in the city as planned.

The day-night Test is scheduled to start on December 17, with Hazlewood and teammates slated to arrive in Adelaide on December 9 after the Dettol ODI and T20 Series against India.

Cricket Australia remain committed to hosting the much-anticipated match at Adelaide Oval for what will be Virat Kohli's only Test this summer.

The governing body is continuing to monitor the situation in South Australia closely and proved on Tuesday, when it executed a mass airlift of players around the country to stay ahead of state government border restrictions.

Every Adelaide-based KFC BBL player and the family of Alex Carey, the South Australian currently in quarantine with the Australia squad's returned IPL contingent, fled the city. And Australia's white-ball squad members from Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania made an early arrival in Sydney after they had been part of the Marsh Sheffield Shield hub in Adelaide.

CA is not currently looking at alternate venues and remain focused on Adelaide for the first Test, but Hazlewood said if a venue change was required, Brisbane's Gabba ground, the traditional home of the first Test of the summer, would be the players' preferred venue.

"The longer we wait the hotter it gets up there, so the quicks would all be happy to get that game done in December," Hazlewood said today.

"We obviously have a really good record up there and it's a great place to start."

The MCG and SCG are two other feasible alternate venues, given Australia and India's squads will already be in Sydney and the second Test is being staged in Melbourne.

Hazlewood suggested the team would have no problems adapting if there was a late shift in venue, or if there were no crowds in Adelaide. But the 29-year-old feels the pink ball should not be used anywhere other than Adelaide Oval during the series.

"He (curator Damian Hough) has got the wicket perfect at Adelaide for a pink-ball Test," Hazlewood said.

"A few grounds around Australia are too abrasive or too hard, such as the Gabba or Perth. Those wickets are too hard for a pink ball, it goes quite soft after a certain amount of time.

"Could be red ball (first Test in) Melbourne or Brisbane or somewhere, then we head back to Adelaide later on in the summer.

"From all reports we're still good for Adelaide but it can always change .. . hopefully they can get on top of it in the next week or two."

National coach Justin Langer admitted there were some "pretty scrambled brains" trying to work through various contingency plans.

"Wherever it's played, it'll be a great contest," Langer said at the launch of his new book in Perth.

India, who refused to play a day-night Test during their previous tour of Australia but have since embraced the innovation, playing one day-night match against Bangladesh where Virat Kohli scored a century, must sign off on any schedule changes.

Kohli's team are slated to play a pink-ball game against Australia A at the SCG on December 11-13, their final tune-up for the series opener.

Hazlewood argued that changing the ground for the first Test would not affect Australia, noting that players have become accustomed to uncertainty and empty stands this year.

"We're adapting pretty quickly to whatever is being thrown in front of us," he added.

India Tour of Australia 2020-21

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Sean Abbott, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Australia ODI & T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey , Pat Cummins (vc), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (c) (first Test only), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj

India ODI squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.

India T20I squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan

Dettol ODI Series v India

First ODI: November 27, SCG, 2.40pm AEDT

Second ODI: November 29, SCG, 2.40pm AEDT

Third ODI: December 2, Manuka Oval, 2.40pm AEDT

Dettol T20 INTL Series v India

First T20: December 4, Manuka Oval, 7.10pm AEDT

Second T20: December 6, SCG, 7.10pm AEDT

Third T20: December 8, SCG, 7.10pm AEDT

Tour matches

Australia A v India A, December 6-8, Drummoyne Oval

Australia A v Indians, December 11-13, SCG (day-night)

Vodafone Test Series v India

First Test: December 17-21, Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (day-night)

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG, 10.30am AEDT

Third Test: January 7-11, SCG, 10.30am AEDT

Fourth Test: January 15-19, Gabba, 11am AEDT

*The matches and travel remain subject to any relevant government restrictions or requirements.