The West Indies allrounder Andre Russell is going to play his first game for Melbourne Stars in the ongoing BBL later today, but he will have to follow a lot of physical distancing guidelines which are not required to be followed by the other players involved in the game. Russell has made his way to Australia from Abu Dhabi and has spent three days in quarantine.
Cricket Australia (CA) has granted Russell permission to feature in BBL already, but they have put the guidelines in place to make sure the hustling power hitter doesn’t get in any sort of physical contact with any other player in the game.
It is learnt that Andre Russell will make his way to the ground separately and not with the whole Stars squad. Even while being in the ground, Russell will have his dugout elsewhere, and he won’t sit in the common dugout of the Melbourne Stars. He will be conveyed his batting position by the team management.
However, it will be interesting to see if Russell bowls at all. If he bowls, he will be touching the same ball that will be touched by the other players of the Melbourne Stars, and it might violate the COVID guidelines that have been put in place for Russell.
The guidelines are so strict that Russell has been asked not to get close to his teammates even while celebrating a wicket, while all the other players will be able to give each other high-fives, as they have spent enough time in Australia to be free of all COVID guidelines.
Andre Russell will be able to operate as a normal player soon
Russell will also be able to operate like a normal player from the next game of the Melbourne Stars, but till the time he has not spent at least 7 days in Australia, counting since his arrival, he won’t be allowed to have physical contact with any BBL player.
While the COVID guidelines have been eased in various sporting arenas all around the world, with teams travelling across the borders and playing straight away without quarantining, the guidelines are still extremely strict in Australia and New Zealand. With a new COVID variant emerging recently, these guidelines are not expected to be eased anytime soon down under.
Andre Russell is participating in the BBL after 4 years and is one of the most anticipated players in the tournament already. He will grab a lot of eyeballs as he takes guard for the Stars today at the historical MCG.
