Another game postponed as COVID hits Sixers camp

Tomorrow night's KFC BBL match in Adelaide has been postponed, with those members of the Melbourne Stars squad who recently contracted COVID-19 deemed physically and mentally unfit to play after being released from isolation.

And the Sydney Sixers have become the seventh of the eight Big Bash clubs to be hit by the virus, with four members of their touring party forced to isolate after testing positive.

Thirteen Stars players have contracted the virus in the past 10 days, the bulk of whom complete their mandatory seven-day isolation period today.

But having been cooped up in hotel rooms for a week and with some players potentially still suffering the lingering effects of the virus, travelling to Adelaide and playing tomorrow night has been determined to be a bridge too far.

Those players released from isolation today require further negative rapid antigen tests and an assessment from the club doctor before they re-join the team and are cleared to play.

English import Joe Clarke and rookie opener Tom Rogers, who both returned positive tests on Monday, remain in isolation along with skipper Glenn Maxwell, who returned a positive rapid antigen test yesterday but was still awaiting the results of his PCR test as of early this afternoon.

While the Stars technically have a squad of players available to play the Strikers tomorrow night, the mental and physical toll of the past week has been significant.

"I've never felt more vulnerable to a virus in my entire life and I never realised how much it was going to affect my mental state," allrounder Hilton Cartwright, one of the few Stars players to have not contracted the virus, said on Monday.

"I've had form slumps and this ranks right up there with how I actually feel about going about my business day-to-day.

"Myself and my wife have basically been locked up in our room, not sure if we're capable of catching the lift in case someone in there might have caught (COVID-19).

"Constantly, it's on your mind and then you've got to walk out there and perform one of the biggest pressure stages in the world.

"My mental state wasn't in a great place about coming to your workplace and COVID is basically running rampant."

Having already had a game against the Scorchers postponed a week ago, the Stars will now have to catch up two games over the coming weeks.

"It has become clear in recent days that, despite the likelihood of players exiting isolation soon, it would not be appropriate for those players to immediately travel to Adelaide and play that night," said Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia's General Manager of Big Bash Leagues.

"We will continue to work with the Stars to support their players and staff throughout the remainder of the season." 

The re-worked schedule is expected to be announced shortly, which will involve all eight teams being based in a Melbourne hub while still playing home games interstate as part of a plan to combat the outbreak.

"This decision ensures our players have added to time to recover from Covid-19 so they can perform at the levels we demand of ourselves at the Stars," said Stars general manager, Blair Crouch.

"We look forward to working with the league to lock in our remaining fixtures for BBL|11 and seeing our members and fans back at the MCG."

Having all teams based in one city will allow organisers to swap the order of games if required, as was done on the Gold Coast this week after 12 cases of the virus were recorded by players from the Brisbane Heat.

"It's very complex. We are gradually moving the teams into Melbourne," CA CEO Nick Hockley told SEN.

"We saw the other night we had a critical mass of teams in south-east Queensland, and we were able to rejig fixtures to keep going."

Hockley said his belief the competition could continue on was based on the fact the outbreaks were "predominantly" in only two teams, the Heat and the Stars.

The Adelaide Strikers is the only team yet to record a positive test.

However, Hockley insisted the integrity of the competition had not been damaged, with more than 20 regular season matches still to be played plus finals.

"While it's not ideal, it's great the level of commitment everyone is showing to the competition continuing," Hockley said.

"In every step we have prioritised the health and wellbeing of those involved.

"We have a clear plan now for the final run in. We are very confident we will be able to complete the competition fully."

Having confirmed their four positive cases today, the Sixers say the rest of their group has tested negative and will travel to Coffs Harbour tomorrow for their game against the Scorchers on Sunday.