Chappell 'kicked out' of beloved Adelaide Oval

Ian Chappell getting kicked out of the Adelaide Oval?

Pigs might fly.

Except yes, in these bizarre and troubling times, that did actually happen tonight.

The Australian cricket legend – who has a grandstand at the ground named after him – was fulfilling his commentary duties for the ABC on day two of the first Test against India.

But as a Sydney Northern Beaches resident, the South Australian government came knocking as the COVID-19 cluster toll continued to mount.

And in dramatic scenes Chappell, 77, was asked to leave his beloved ground and isolate before undertaking a COVID test tomorrow.

He's not sure whether he'll then stay in Adelaide or return to Sydney.

"I don't know too much, the problem is the (Sydney residential) postcode," Chappell told Wide World of Sports.

"I haven't been to any of the places (with known COVID contacts) but once they ask about the Northern Beaches local government area, I had to say 'yes' to that.

"That triggered things off.

"I haven't got a clue yet.

"I'll just have the test and see what happens in the morning."

Ian Chappell, kicked out of the Adelaide Oval…

"It's weird, but that's life at the moment," he said.

Earlier in the day, former Australian paceman Brett Lee suffered the same feat.

Lee is a resident of the Northern Beaches and one of a number of staff members from both broadcasters Fox Sports and Channel 7 who have been sent home after the cluster.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Lee has no symptoms of the virus and has not been to any of the notified hot spots.

Cricket Australia sent an urgent memo for any media covering the first Test who had visited the Northern Beaches in the past three weeks to contact them as soon as possible.

But Cricket Australia's strict bio-security protocols saved Mitchell Starc from sensationally being withdrawn from the first Test.

Starc and wife Alyssa Healy live in the Northern Beaches but were allowed to remain in Adelaide despite arriving after December 11.

Starc and Healy were granted an exemption from the South Australian Governemnt due to CA's stringent protocols which asked the pair to self-isolate for three days before re-joining Australia's Test bubble after Starc took leave due to a family illness.

"This is the very reason why throughout the summer we've had the players in bubbles and in hubs, and we've had a hugely successful summer already," Interim Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley told SEN this week.