SYDNEY: Australian authorities said mandatory hotel quarantine for people arriving for the Australian Open tennis tournament was essential to stop COVID-19, as the country recorded another day with no new locally acquired cases on Tuesday.
Some of the world’s top tennis players including world No. 1 Novak Djokovic have questioned the country’s enforced 14-day hotel quarantine, suggesting they should be allowed to complete the process in accommodation with tennis courts before the tournament which starts in Victoria state on Feb. 8.
But Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said he would not make changes.
“People are free to ask for things, but the answer is no,” Andrews told reporters in a televised news conference.
“They knew what they were traveling into and we are not cutting corners or making special arrangements.”
More than 70 players and their entourage are confined to their hotel rooms after passengers on three charter flights returned positive tests for the coronavirus. Victoria recorded four new cases in hotel quarantine on Tuesday, but these are not counted as community transmissions.
Andrews came under substantial pressure in 2020 after putting the country’s second-most populous state into a months-long lockdown to fight a second wave of infections of the new coronavirus.
In neighboring New South Wales state, Hollywood actor Matt Damon was granted an exemption from hotel quarantine after arriving to film a “Thor” sequel in Sydney.
Damon flew in on a private jet, will stay in a rented house under security and pay for hospital-grade cleaning for his 14-day quarantine, a doctor involved in his quarantine was quoted saying in local media.
As Australia’s hard-line border controls keep daily numbers of new coronavirus cases at zero or low single digits, tourism operators have called for additional subsidies after health authorities suggested the country would not fully reopen its borders in 2021.
If the industry did not receive an extension of federal wage subsidies that are due to end in March, “we’ll be lucky to have a tourism industry in 12 or 18 months’ time,” Tourism and Transport Forum CEO Margy Osmond told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
But Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the country would be unlikely to fully reopen its border soon, even though it hopes to start a vaccination program next month.
“There will be a process through 2021 of returning to some sort of normal,” Kelly told reporters.
“Unfortunately, international borders changes will be one of the last things to change, rather than the first.”
Australia says ‘no’ to tennis stars’ calls for COVID-19 quarantine change
https://arab.news/25pbp
Australia says ‘no’ to tennis stars’ calls for COVID-19 quarantine change
- ‘People are free to ask for things, but the answer is no’
- ‘They knew what they were traveling into and we are not cutting corners or making special arrangements’
New Zealand looks to its batting depth, game-breakers at the T20 World Cup
- The Black Caps’ best effort in nine World Cups was in 2021 when they were well beaten by Australia in the final
- The latest T20 World Cup starts Saturday in India and Sri Lanka over the next month
WELLINGTON, New Zealand: New Zealand will lean heavily on its batting depth and proven match-winners to balance a depleted attack as it attempts to win the T20 World Cup for the first time.
The Black Caps’ best effort in nine World Cups was in 2021 when they were well beaten by Australia in the final.
That record reflects New Zealand’s love-hate relationship with a format to which it seems well adapted with its high percentage of allrounders. New Zealand played the first-ever T20 international, against Australia, and its win-loss record in around 260 internationals is roughly 50 percent.
The latest T20 World Cup starts Saturday in India and Sri Lanka over the next month.
New Zealand heads into the tournament on the back of a humbling T20 series loss to India in India. In the fifth game, New Zealand conceded a record 271-5, which included a century from 40 balls by Ishan Kishan.
New Zealand’s weakened bowling attack was under the pump throughout the series. In the third match, India chased down New Zealand’s 153-9 with only two wickets down and 10 overs remaining.
Asked at the end of the series if there was anything New Zealand could have done to contain the Indian batters, skipper Mitchell Santner joked, “Maybe push the boundaries back a little bit!”
But Santner was happy with the intelligence New Zealand gained from the India series ahead of its World Cup opener against Afghanistan at Chennai.
“We look at the series as a whole. We learned a lot of good stuff,” Santner said. “It’s not easy as a bowling unit. We’ve got to find ways against very good batters.”
New Zealand will ask much of the 31-year-old pacer Jacob Duffy, who will be playing at his first T20 World Cup. Duffy had an extraordinary breakout season in 2025, taking 81 wickets in a calendar year to break the New Zealand record held by Richard Hadlee. He is the No. 4-ranked T20 bowler in the world.
Apart from Duffy, the New Zealand pace lineup includes Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson, who came in as a late replacement for the injured Adam Milne. Ben Sears is the traveling reserve and may see action as Henry and Ferguson may both take short breaks for paternity leave.
Santner and Ish Sodhi are the main spin options, with Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra and Michael Bracewell providing backup.
Sodhi said the batters spent time facing spin in their tournament preparation.
“At training the boys wanted to face spinners and see what their boundary and single options were, so it was really cool that everyone is training specifically for that,” he said.
New Zealand’s strong batting lineup comprises of Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra and Tim Seifert. Seifert will also keep wicket while the allrounders Jimmy Neesham, who provides an extra pace option, Bracewell and Phillips balance the squad.
“We’ve got plenty of power and skill in the batting, quality bowlers who can adapt to conditions plus five allrounders who all bring something slightly different,” New Zealand coach Rob Walter said.
“This is an experienced group and the players are no strangers to playing in the subcontinent, which will be valuable.”
New Zealand’s squad includes players with franchise experience around the world who bring a match-winning element.
Allen has a strike rate of 165.45 in T20 internationals and 175.23 in domestic or franchise T20 cricket.
Phillips has a strike rate of 141.56 in international T20s and provides athleticism in the field, reflected by his 52 catches.
“World Cups are special and there’s few better places to play one than in India, which is very much the heartbeat of the modern game,” Walter said. “I’m really happy with the skills and experience of this squad. We have a group which can make New Zealand proud.”
New Zealand is drawn in Group D with Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa and the UAE.
