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A Covid drama with the start of the second day’s play in the Boxing Day Test between Australia and England delayed by half an hour following a positive test within the English team's family group.
Cricket Australia said the English side has undertaken RFT COVID tests and were given the all clear to travel to the MCG.
That revelation came as Channel Seven confirmed an asymptomatic staff member working on the Ashes broadcast also tested positive to the virus on Sunday evening.
The entire Seven commentary team has been changed as a result.
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Marcus Harris looked nervous and unconvincing in the last hour of play on Boxing Day.
But unlike 10 English batsmen and his opening partner David Warner, the embattled Australian has survived.
The left-hander will resume arguably the most important innings of his career on day two of the third Test at the MCG, aiming to repay the enormous faith that the selectors have placed in him.
Harris has made 20, still three runs shy of his highest score so far in this series.
Australia is 1 for 61 in reply to England's first innings of 185.
As is his habit, Warner took the lead at the start of the Australian first innings.
He made 38 from 42 balls before Jimmy Anderson made the crucial breakthrough, having him caught by Zac Crawley in the gully.
After Harris only managed three and 23 in Adelaide's second Test, he looked unlikely to play at home ground on Boxing Day.
Coach Justin Langer and the selectors have stuck with Harris in the hope that they can finally translate solid Sheffield Shield form into consistent Test runs.
Day two will reveal plenty about whether that faith is justified.
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Supermaxi Black Jack was heading a much reduced Sydney Hobart fleet on Monday morning, after the double whammy of strong winds and high seas forced almost a quarter of the boats to retire.
By six am, 21 of the original 88 starters were no longer racing and the other 67 were hoping for less taxing conditions, after being battered by heavy southerlies through the latter part of Sunday.
By the time Boxing Day on the Australian east coast had finished 18 boats were out of the race and three more joined the list in the early hours of Monday morning,
Sydney boats Oz Design Patrice Six and Philosopher withdrew due to engine issues and internal damage respectively.
Queensland 39-foot yacht Huntress also advised organisers she had retired, but it was not immediately clear why she had pulled out.
The big list of casualties on Sunday included the TP52 Gweilo, which was considered one of the main contenders to win overall honours.
Out the front of the fleet, Monaco's Black Jack continued to lead in the battle for line honours.
She was ahead of rival supermaxis LawConnect and SHK Scallywag 100,
The size of her lead was hard to confirm as LawConnect had issues with reporting the boat's exact position.
Victoria's 80 foot Stefan Racing, skippered by race stalwart and co-owner Grant Wharington, was also up among the fleet leaders.
Other boats in the top ten included Tasmania's 2018 overall winner and 66 foot boat Alive, the 62 foot Whisper and TP52s Celestial and Quest.
The 64 foot Sydney based boat Khaleesi was leading the overall standing from the 34 foot White Bay 6 Azzurro, which before the race was considered one of the small boats most likely to challenge for the main handicap prize.
In the new Two-Handed division, Tasmania's Sidewinder was leading that contingent of 15 from Victoria's Maverick.
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Ichi Ban skipper Matt Allen has tipped the smaller yachts to shine in the battle for Sydney to Hobart race overall honours, as his boat bids to become the first in 57 years to win the main handicap prize in consecutive races.
Allen said the forecast didn't suit higher-rated boats like his 52-footer, which took overall honours in the 2017 and 2019 races and is favourite again.
He said the race was likely to be pretty slow with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting a predominance of south to south-easterly winds, with southerlies increasing to 25 knots later on Sunday.
Allen estimated it would take Ichi Ban just over three days to complete the course, much longer than any of its three previous Hobart efforts.
"I'd probably favour the smaller boats for the overall win," Allen said.
"They haven't had a good run the last few years, I think this is possibly their year.
"It's hard to pick which boat, but certainly I think a boat that's smaller size is going to be advantaged and might even bring up a north-easter towards the back end when we've been on the racetrack for a long period of time.
"Therefore there's a lot of time that those guys have got before they need to finish.
"It will definitely favour the smallest boats in the fleet, White Bay 6 Azzurro, maybe even Love & War, boats like that," he said.
A win for Love & War would give the 48-year old boat an unprecedented four overall titles, breaking a record she presently shares with Freya.
Should Ichi Ban win, she will become the first boat since Freya in 1964 to claim back-to-back race overall victories.
Allen said every Hobart race presented competitors with two or three big decisions, but that might increase to six or seven this year.
He didn't expect crews to get much rest and sleep tonight as he thought they were in for a bumpy ride.
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