Adelaide Strikers v Melbourne Stars becomes third BBL match postponed

Stars have 13 players in isolating and despite some soon becoming available the BBL have deemed it "unreasonable" for them to play

The backlog of Big Bash League fixtures continues to mount after a third match was postponed by tournament organisers.

Adelaide Strikers' clash with Melbourne Stars on Friday (January 7) in Geelong will not take place as scheduled.

Stars currently have 13 players in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19, including captain Glenn Maxwell.

Several are imminently set to leave isolation, subject to a negative test.

But the league have ruled that it would be "unreasonable" for them to play in a match so soon after becoming available.

A new date for the match will be confirmed in due course.

^{The GMHBA Stadium was due to host the game (Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)}

It is the second Stars match to be pulled after the meeting with Perth Scorchers originally scheduled for December 30 could not go ahead.

Brisbane Heat, who have also been beset by a major Covid outbreak, have seen their match against reigning champion Sydney Sixers postponed twice this week.

Teams require 13 players to fulfil fixtures, with replacement local stars enlisted to try and keep the tournament going.

Cricket Australia are moving all eight teams to a single hub in Melbourne and they will travel to home matches on chartered flights.

At the time of writing, including postponements, there are 22 regular-season matches still to play before the playoffs are due to get underway from January 21.