Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, life in bubbles and hotel quarantine has become the new normal for cricketers.
But, even in the current climate, the past few months have been extraordinary for Dan Christian.
The allrounder flew to Pakistan to play for Karachi Kings in the PSL, which started in February but was suspended in early March after the biosecure bubble burst and the virus made its way to the players.
Christian then joined Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, only for that tournament to suffer the same fate as the PSL.
Along with fellow Australian players, coaching staff and media, Christian was caught out by the Australian Government’s decision to ban all entries from India as the dangerous third wave took hold in the country.
But while the other Australians then headed home to quarantine, Christian flew to Bahrain and quarantined for a further two weeks en route to England, where he captains Nottinghamshire in the T20 Blast, because the UK government was not accepting travellers from the Maldives.
Christian had played two warm-up matches and was only a few days away from leading Nottinghamshire in the first game of their campaign to defend their title when he found out he was in the squad for Australia’s winter tour of the Caribbean and Bangladesh.
He flew back to Australia, quarantined for two weeks and then joined the squad before flying to St Lucia.
“It was a little bit bittersweet,” said Christian, speaking after Australia’s intra-squad match at Daren Sammy National Stadium, where all five T20 matches will be played against West Indies.
“I guess I was pretty keen to start that season with Notts and try and defend our title over there but to get the call up again as a 38-year-old is pretty special.
"I certainly wasn't going to knock that opportunity back so, yeah, jumped straight on the first plane I could and got back and started to prepare to come over.”
“Any time in the past, when I've been picked for Australia, I'm just gonna jump at the opportunity whenever you get it,” said Christian.
“So this series, Bangladesh, obviously if it goes ahead, and then with the two World Cups coming up in the next 12 months or so, if I can play some good cricket I'd love to be a part of those.”
Christian hasn’t played for Australia since 2017 and he made a solid impression in his first hit out, making 47 runs off 31 balls in the intra-squad warm-up.
With seven Australian players opting out of the tour, citing bubble fatigue after the suspended IPL, these matches present a tantalising opportunity for Christian to push for a middle-order spot in the squad that heads to the ICC T20 World Cup in October.
His hunger to play for Australia again is clearly stronger than any fatigue from being cloistered in hotels and he could be considered unfortunate not to have represented Australia more often in T20 cricket, a format in which he has excelled at franchises all around the world.
Christian has appeared in 11 finals and won seven titles in T20 leagues, making him one of Australia’s most experienced and successful guns-for-hire in the game.
But while there has been plenty of speculation surrounding who might play a ‘finisher’ role for Australia, Christian believes there is strong competition among players in the current squad and back in Australia.
“I think there are a lot of guys, you can throw Moses [Henriques] it that, then you can throw in [Marcus} Stoinis and [Glenn] Maxwell and Dan Sams as well. There's a lot of guys. I think we've got a real wealth of talent in that area nowadays," said Christian.
"Whoever gets the gigs is probably going to be playing really well at the time but I’ve no doubt that they'll do a good job for Australia in that World Cup."
Other notable batting performances in the intra-squad included Mitchell Marsh, who smacked 56 from 28 balls, while Ben McDermott - who also dashed back from England to join the squad - chimed in with 36 off 46 deliveries and Henriques made a handy 36 from 27.
A couple of snaps from Australia's 44-over intra-squad match 📸: @ClancySinnamon
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) July 6, 2021
Match report from today's hit-out: https://t.co/1kjYqngYuA#WIvAUS pic.twitter.com/cSPOLkfvGC
A hurricane has curtailed Australia’s preparations and the warm-up match was the first opportunity for the players to assess the conditions.
“It was a pretty good wicket, quite a decent sized ground and a strong breeze as well,” Christian said.
“We saw lots of stuff bowled into the wicket, lots of slower balls, the spinners were quite effective. So it was typical of what you get over here I guess."
The tour kicks off with the first of five T20Is on Friday night in St Lucia (Saturday morning in Australia) and will also include three One-Day Internationals.
