The crowd is long gone after the Sydney Thunder shut down the Melbourne Stars in a Big Bash League clash, with a handful of security guards and ground staff among the last ones standing.

All that's left to do are post-match press conferences, but even those will be done from the confines of a barren press box via a video call to players inside their change rooms.

Welcome to the BBL in 2020-21, an era seemingly defined by the COVID-19 pandemic which has completely revamped the delivery of Cricket Australia's Twenty20 showpiece.

Border restrictions have left journalists stranded at home, meaning those who would have made the trip from Sydney have to dial in for press conferences. It leaves one to occupy the press box, a far cry from the four days in which it was absolutely heaving for Canberra's first Test match in February 2019.

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Level three of Manuka Oval's media centre is off limits, doors to commentary boxes are locked with those bringing the game to life doing so from afar.

All Big Bash commentary has been done offsite this season. Games broadcast on Fox Sports have been driven out of a studio in Sydney, while free-to-air matches on the Seven Network have been called from Melbourne.

Both networks have sent a boundary reporter to matches but that is the extent of the commentary crew's presence at matches during a transient summer of Big Bash cricket.

Seven, Fox and production company NEP work together to pool resources with broadcast crews at Manuka Oval often a mixture of staff members from Sydney or elsewhere, with a sprinkling from Canberra.

Photographers and camera crews lining the boundary must remain in designated spots and have to wear face masks at all times.

The delivery of BBL matches shapes as an enormous logistical exercise for Cricket Australia and its broadcast partners, replicated across every market in which the Twenty20 tournament and international games are played.

State and territory governments, broadcast partners, Big Bash clubs, the Australian Cricketers Association and medical experts are involved at every level.

"In particular with ACT, the ACT government, Cricket ACT and Thunder were enormous in getting this one off the ground and have shown the capabilities they and Manuka as a venue itself possess," a Cricket Australia spokesman said.

Manuka Oval hosted six matches this season and the door could open for more if Sydney's coronavirus outbreak forces Cricket Australia to move more games. Even the prospect of hosting a finals game may not yet be discounted.

Even players are adjusting to life in a hub, yet for all of the changes felt by those on the park and those behind the scenes, Thunder spinner Chris Green offers a simple message.

"Perspective is pretty powerful," Green said.

"There are annoying little things here and there, but at the end of the day, we still have the absolute privilege of playing for the club we love to play for, and play the game we love to play.

"We get to play in front of fans, which not many people are able to do around the world. There have been no pay cuts, we're enjoying each other's company, and the tournament is going from strength to strength.

"There are so many positives in what we're going through. When you focus on those, you put yourself in the right frame of mind and you can still enjoy the tournament as you would do normally."