Stephen O'Keefe: Playing cricket in Sydney air similar to "smoking 80 cigarettes a day"

Although his New South Wales side was able to complete a nine-wicket Sheffield Shield win over Queensland, the spinner believes Cricket Australia needs to address air quality concerns

New South Wales spinner Stephen O'Keefe has called on Cricket Australia to take action after his side's Sheffield Shield win over Queensland was overrun by "hazardous" levels of smoke.

The 35-year-old made the remarks to media after securing match figures of 4-71 on the final day at the Sydney, saying that he would not play in such conditions if personally given the choice.

The state is currently experiencing over 80 active bush fires, with The Guardian reporting that air in the city was testing at 11 times the values typically considered as "hazardous", however play continued at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

"The one thing they need to look at is the air quality policy. That was shocking," O'Keefe told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I don't have kids, but if I did they'd be locked up inside, and if I was at home I wouldn't be training or playing in it.

"The doctor was all over it and speaking to us about it, and the fact the game wasn't going to go all day was considered, but in the future they need to look at it because it's not healthy – it's toxic."

Through the Sydney smoke, Steve O'Keefe wrapped up Queensland's tail with a couple of beauties - and he was PUMPED! #SheffieldShield pic.twitter.com/54asVNZco0

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 10, 2019

"I tip my hat to Queensland because when you're behind in the game you've got a reason to whinge, but they got on with it.

"It got to the stage we weren't going to come off for quality, it was more about visibility. It was getting hard to pick the ball up. I'm sure they'll address it. It's a bit left field to have something as severe as this.

"For someone like me who smokes 40 a day, [these conditions are like] smoking 80 cigarettes a day."

The conditions were further described by Australia and Queensland batsman Usman Khawaja as "not unplayable" but neverless challenging, particularly for bowlers, and both players compared the experience to playing amid high heat and pollution in India.

^{Stephen O'Keefe claimed three wickets and a run-out in the second innings to provide his team a target of 42}

Though the professional game continued as planned through the state, recreational sides had previously been warned against playing over the weekend in anticipation of such challenging circumstances by Lee Germon, the former New Zealand wicketkeeper who is now chief executive at Cricket New South Wales.

"Cricket NSW strongly advises all junior and senior competitions across NSW that are affected by smoke and poor air quality to give serious consideration to cancelling this weekend's games," Germon said in a statement.

"Our number one concern is the health of our players and officials involved in cricket.

"We appreciate this may mean some finals are not played and players may be disappointed, however the welfare of our cricket communities is our number one priority."

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