Wanted during COVID-19: Changes in cricket regulations

India pacer Navdeep Saini (centre) winces in pain after suffering a groin injury during Day One of the fourth Test against Australia at The Gabba in Brisbane yesterday. Pic/Getty Images

I write this a few minutes after Navdeep Saini has hobbled off at the Gabba, minutes away from my home in Brisbane's leafy suburbs on Friday. It may be too early to predict how serious this injury is, but if it rules him out of the match, it reduces this important tie-breaker Test to official joke status.

This is not a true India team. It is barely an India ‘A' team. For a variety of reasons, they are missing (or have missed) an entire team's worth of personnel. When you add COVID-19 quarantine restrictions to a ridiculously high injury toll, almost all of them soft-tissue injuries, the question needs to be asked; is this really a fair-dinkum contest anymore?

The fact that India are still alive in this series is nothing short of a miracle. It is entirely possible, nay probable, that they will get steamrolled inside four days in Brisbane but even that is not a given for these brave lads who refuse to lay down and die. This squad must surely be remembered as the bravest touring team that India has ever sent abroad, even if they return having surrendered the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

The ICC and BCCI (and other Boards) may now need to re-assess what international cricket looks like in a pandemic-ravaged world. Until life returns to some semblance of normality and quarantine restrictions are eased, both in-house (on tour) and for international borders, if the integrity of the contest is to be maintained, it cannot continue in the current format.

For the touring team especially, it is untenable. Clearly there must be some correlation between bubble life and soft-tissue injuries. It is impossible to draw any other conclusion. The number of soft-tissue injuries since COVID is at epic levels. It simply cannot be a coincidence.

No team is immune from it. This must provide some measure of relief to the Indian team's medical staff because it proves that whatever they are doing to adequately prepare their cricketers (and failing spectacularly) is not unique to the Indian squad. Sri Lanka experienced similar issues in South Africa recently. Anyone who is following the Big Bash in Australia will know that it is a daily occurrence now, waiting to hear which player is either not available for selection or needs to be "subbed out" at the halfway mark of the first innings (The X-Factor rule). I am not exaggerating - it happens in almost every game without fail.

I have always been scornful about the value of pre-game warmups and the over-reliance on medical staff as an injury preventative measure. Throughout my career, I only ever missed a game when I rolled an ankle whilst fielding (during a game) and we didn't have any of these luxuries despite playing four to five times a week. For those who argue that this army of staff play a role in preventing injuries (as opposed to treating existing ailments), they will need to mount a convincing case for why players are going down with soft-tissue injuries at a higher rate than ever before. It lurches from the sublime to the ridiculous when you hear that a player has torn a muscle during the warm-up! Presumably, warming up is meant to reduce injuries so if you tear/sprain something in the act of preventing that very occurrence, then it is a world gone truly mad.

If we are to believe the sports scientists who make a handsome living from producing cricketers who are less durable, then bubble life and quarantining must be the only valid explanation. In which case, the ICC needs to now show some leadership and fast-track some rule changes. Until life is back to normal (will it ever be?), we need to emulate the football codes (soccer, rugby etc) and allow the interchange bench to come into effect. Unlimited interchanges may be going a step too far but under independent medical supervision, we need to be able to replace players who are unable to complete the game.

It's not that revolutionary. We now allow concussion substitutes. We now allow specialists like wicket-keepers to be replaced. COVID-19 has caused unprecedented circumstances which now require innovative and unprecedented responses. Otherwise, we risk reducing international cricket to junk status. We are fortunate that the Gabba Test is the last one of the series because if there was more cricket to be played, it is likely that Ravi Shastri or Sunil Gavaskar may be called upon to man the trenches. Jokes aside, it is not inconceivable that India may have to recruit from within the Indian diaspora in Australia, many of them decent club cricketers. Broadcasters would simply not pay top dollar to showcase a game involving club cricketers in prime time.

Yes, there will need to be some rules around who decides if someone is genuinely injured or milking it for strategic purposes. Will the fast bowler fake an injury so the spinner can be subbed in to bowl in the fourth innings? That is where there needs to be some level of trust and a commitment to integrity by all parties. It can be done. Despite Tim Paine's foul-mouthed tirade at the Australian umpires (for which he was fined and later apologised - he is becoming rather accustomed to apologising!), we allow non-neutral umpires and Match Referees. We even allow fathers to sit in judgement of their own sons (Broad v Broad 2020). So it is now time to move with the times and allow injured players to be replaced during the game. The alternative is to do what I have done this afternoon - switch off the tv and do something else other than watch Test cricket. I could walk down to the Gabba and watch it for myself but no thanks - my daughter is playing cricket tonight and that's likely to be a fairer contest!

Michael Jeh is a Brisbane-based former first-class cricketer