The start of the domestic season for the NSW Blues has hit another road block, with the team confirming today that a proposed trip to South Australia was off.
Cricket NSW’s head of men’s cricket, Michael Klinger, said efforts to get the Blues into other states for Shield and Marsh Cup fixtures had fallen short.
“We won’t be travelling,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“We’ve done our best over the last month to try and get ourselves interstate.”
READ MORE: England confirm Ashes decision will be made this week
READ MORE: ‘Lecturing Aussies’ blasted amid Ashes debacle
Klinger said they worked hard with various governments to get some form of interstate cricket over the line, and that all players and staff were double vaccinated.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the guys, both players and staff, in terms of the resilience they’ve shown. Basically offering to be away for anywhere from eight to 12 weeks to get the season started.”
Unfortunately, he said, they were unable to get anything set in stone.
Now, Cricket NSW will work with Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria to try and set up some fixtures between the two states in October and November.
“Hopefully be able to play them on potentially the main grounds, and get some quality cricket in before the start of the BBL, and more importantly for some of the guys playing Test cricket, to get some preparation for them before the Ashes.”
Klinger said there was ‘no doubt’ disappointment among the squad at the repeated setbacks, but praised the professionalism of the squad.
LIVE UPDATES: Fresh twist in Brisbane Lions-Neale saga as AFL trades kick off
READ MORE: Bare knuckle fighter dies weeks after brutal knockout
READ MORE: ‘Sacrifices’ needed for Panthers to win multiple premierships, says Gallen
The Blues may play as many as three multi-day fixtures against Victoria as well as one-dayers.
“It just means we’re playing games against the same team – but in a way, you’ve got two strong teams, people trying to vie for sports for the Ashes. It’s going to be potentially some really strong games if we can get it up and going.”
Klinger said the original plan was to play against all the other states bar Victoria before the Big Bash began in December, because he knew they could complete fixtures against their fierce rivals after the conclusion of the T20 competition.
Instead, he confirmed on Tuesday that it was extremely unlikely for the Blues to face any of WA, Queensland, SA, or Tasmania before Christmas.
In the only completed Sheffield Shield match of the 2021-22 summer so far, South Australia drew with Western Australia in Adelaide.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!