Australian Test bowler Peter Siddle has been treated for smoke inhalation, after the Big Bash game in Canberra had to be canned due to bushfire smoke that covered Manuka Oval.
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According to the ABC, the game was cancelled after just 4.2 overs, when umpires called time on the game due to visibility and air quality. This meant (I know nothing about cricket, bear with me here) that the match was abandoned, because you need to have played five overs in the second innings for it to be counted as a game, therefore the points were split and Adelaide Strikers (maybe) won.
What I do know is that Sydney Thunder were really upset about the cancelled game, although understood the stakes, with coach Shane Bond telling media on site:
“Callum’s out there — we’ve worked bloody hard, we’re probably going to win — with the emotion of it, he’s disappointed as we all are.But you have to stop, take a breath and say losing a point is not the same as losing your house. There’s some perspective there.”
Siddle, who was playing for the Adelaide Strikers, has said he feels fine now after being treated.
“If you sit next to a campfire, just imagine that, that’s what it felt like out on the field. I’m feeling all right. It’s obviously disappointing not to be able to finish the game, but at the end of the day player welfare is the main thing, and there’s bigger issues going on than worrying about a cricket game.”
Adelaide Strikers captain Alex Carey noted that there were a few asthmatics on the Adelaide team, so he was glad they didn’t remain on the field in the bushfire conditions.
Bond told media the air quality was so bad, punters were suffering.
“We thought you could finish a game [based on visibility] … but the air quality was poor, people went down in the stands. The fact you drop a point is not anything compared to what other people are going through.”
Cricket Australia has made a statement, saying they will be monitoring air quality conditions in Sydney ahead of the New Year’s Test.
