Border closure forces BBL schedule changes

The closure of Victoria's border with NSW has forced a venue change for three KFC BBL matches in mid-January and could lead to Sydney missing out on hosting any regular-season games this summer.

Three matches on January 13, 16 and 18 involving the Thunder, Sixers, Scorchers and Hurricanes have been moved from Sydney to Manuka Oval in Canberra to allow the Perth and Hobart teams easy access to Melbourne for the following round of games.

The five remaining BBL matches scheduled in Sydney between January 22 and 26 have not yet been moved and their status effectively sits in the hands of the Victorian government.

Reflecting the fast-changing nature of state border closures, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said yesterday he "would hope to be able to make some announcements next week" regarding the border with NSW, comments that came just 24 hours after his health minister, Martin Foley, said it was "unlikely" the hard border would be removed before the end of the month.

There are 14 games to be played in Melbourne between January 14 and January 26, with the Sixers the only club currently not scheduled to play in the Victorian capital.

The third Vodafone Test is being played in Sydney this week before the series is scheduled to shift to Brisbane, the move out of NSW made possible thanks to an exemption granted by the Queensland state government.

But the challenge of gaining similar clearance for eight BBL franchises that are currently spread across three different states has proven to be too great of a logistical challenge.

"The decision to move these three matches from Sydney to Canberra has been taken to ensure the continuation of the KFC BBL|10 season despite the ongoing public health situation and related state border closures," Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia's Head of Big Bash Leagues, said in a statement.

"The logistical complexities of the KFC BBL, with multiple movements of multiple groups across multiple state borders, means moving these games gives us the best possible chance of executing a full season. This differs from the logistics of the ongoing Vodafone Test Series, which requires fewer movements across state borders to execute a full series.

"As part of our ongoing monitoring of the situation in Sydney, we will consider whether or not we need to make any decisions on the remaining matches in Sydney in due course."

Tickets for the three games that have been moved to Manuka Oval will go on sale here later today.

The entire BBL season has been played in hubs around the country as teams could not be guaranteed free movement over state borders during the season.

The tournament began in Tasmania and the ACT before shifting to Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, all states and territories that have largely been free of community transmission of COVID19 in recent months and currently have no outgoing border restrictions.

The venues for the BBL Finals, scheduled to be played between January 29 and February 6, are yet to be confirmed but Dobson said in November the league would be open to playing them at neutral venues if necessary.

Concern over state borders has created plenty of schedule uncertainty for most of the season and the start of the Women's National Cricket League was this week pushed back by 10 days to January 25.

The opening rounds of the Marsh Sheffield Shield were played entirely in a hub in Adelaide while the six limited-overs internationals between Australia and India were held in Sydney and Canberra.