International Cricket Update: Erin Burns will miss the rest of the Weber WBBL|07 season due to border constraints, which prevented the vital allrounder from joining the club.
As per women's cricket live news reports, Burns didn't go to Hobart with her Sydney and Canberra-based Sixers colleagues in late September, opting to stay at home after being freed from hotel quarantine upon her return from The Hundred in England.
In order to join her colleagues for the Launceston stage of the event, the 33-year-old had intended to undergo obligatory isolation in Tasmania in time. When she was unable to obtain an exemption from the Tasmanian government, she applied to quarantine in either South Australia or Queensland, which would have enabled her to join the club in Adelaide or Mackay, but she was unable to obtain an exemption from both jurisdictions as well.
The Sixers will play the rest of the WBBL|07 season in Perth, Adelaide, and Mackay after leaving Tasmania.
Due to current border closures, the calendar skips both New South Wales and Victoria, but the league hasn't given up hope that those states could host finals if a Melbourne or Sydney club finishes first – a situation that would allow Burns to rejoin the group.
Clare Crewdson, the Acting Head of Female Cricket for Cricket NSW, claimed that CNSW and Cricket Australia have been unable to resolve the border crossing issues.
Burns will not be replaced in the club's 15-man roster at this time. Most WBBL|07 players have stayed in hotels in recent months.
71 of the 117 primary-list players who travelled to Tasmania (with Burns, Rachael Haynes, and the injured Rachel Trenaman never making it to Hobart), including the 12 Australia players and eight India players who did their isolation in early September in Queensland ahead of the international series, went through hotel quarantine ahead of the competition.
While 11 CA-contracted Australian players pulled out of The Hundred owing to worries about quarantine and a long time away from home, eight domestic players joined the event.