Ashes 2021-22: Why Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc were not ruled out of 2nd Test in spite of dining in same restaurant as Pat Cummins

Australia received a jolt ahead of the 2nd Ashes Test match against England as their skipper Pat Cummins was ruled out of the game at the Adelaide Oval. Cummins had reportedly visited a restaurant and had been in contact with a person who was Covid-19 positive.

In South Australia, there are just over 100 (108) active cases. The next 2 Test matches of the series will be played at 2 iconic venues, Melbourne and Sydney. And, these 2 cities have many Covid-19 cases, and even the restrictions imposed are not as strict as the ones imposed in Adelaide.

And, Australian batter David Warner opined that it is an ‘inevitable’ situation as some people are infected with Covid-19, and a player might come into contact with a Covid-19 positive person.

“You can’t help what happened with Patty. It’s inevitable in today’s society that people are going to get Covid or are going to be close contacts and unfortunately, he was in a spot where someone had tested positive that day. It probably won’t be the last, it will probably happen through the summer to someone. Maybe to all of us,” said David Warner after Day 1 of the 2nd Test match.

Why were Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon not ruled out of the 2nd Ashes Test?

Now, then comes the question. Why were Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, who visited the same restaurant not ruled out of the Test match? Well, both Lyon and Starc were dining outside in the restaurant, and are only casual contacts.

David Warner further explained the rules put in place for the players. The 35-year-old said that only 3 players can go to a particular venue at a particular time, and the players will have to check with each other as to where they are dining. Warner concluded by stating that when the caravan moves to Melbourne and Sydney, the rules will be different.

“The rules for us are three players can be at a venue. So we have to check in with each other to see which restaurants everyone’s going to. The rules in Sydney and Melbourne are different. We can’t eat indoors there – obviously this was a different level [of Covid] compared to there,” concluded Warner.