Instead, Australia's COVID cricketer won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

McGrath was in Sunday's triumphant team. But she was also out of it.

When waiting to bat McGrath sat, masked, away from her teammates.

On the field, maskless, teammates were fist-bumping her. When the Australians won, she joined the celebratory group hug.

But at the medal ceremony, McGrath was back wearing her mask.

"It's a real shame that in elite sport you get publicly shamed for having COVID when over here probably 90 per cent of the people in this room have it right now," McGrath's teammate Beth Mooney said.

"No-one's testing. No-one's doing anything."

McGrath's contradictory case sharpens the focus on Australia's COVID contingencies at the Commonwealth Games.

Prior to landing in Birmingham, Australia's chef de mission Petria Thomas outlined the team's policies.

Athletes were to be banned from spectating at other sports.

They were ordered to wear masks indoors and outdoors to minimise the risk of catching COVID.

"COVID unfortunately has been an ongoing challenge," Thomas told AAP on the eve of the Games' opening ceremony.

"We're managing various cases as they pop up so our COVID team has done a mountain of work trying to make sure people can get to the Games and for our athletes to be able to get to the start line."

Then came the opening ceremony.

About 250 Australian athletes and officials marched. Maskless.

"For that special moment, it will be masks off," Thomas said.

"We're really focusing on wearing masks indoors and while we're moving around in a crowded sort of space, even outdoors.

"But given the (opening ceremony) moment, we will be masks off, if people want to."

Commonwealth Games Australia hasn't provided specific numbers of COVID cases within Australia's 429-strong team.

Two-time world javelin champion Kelsey-Lee Barber was confirmed as having COVID on July 27. Eleven days later, she won gold.

Athletes have given media conferences without masks. Australian journalists in close proximity haven't been ordered to wear them.

Despite the ban on athletes attending other sports as spectators, there have been examples of them doing just that.

One example is the women's hockey team watching their fellow Australians at a group stage cricket match. Another is the cricketers watching a hockey game.

Numerous athletes have been spotted out and about in Birmingham when not competing, not wearing masks.

Australia's lawn bowlers would have loved to have celebrated their gold medals at a pub across the road from the rink. While those from other nations held up the bar, the Australians stayed away.

That's despite an apparent relaxing of team policies that have bemused many other nations and maskless spectators who, in effect, largely ignore the prospect of the virus at the Games.

Australian Associated Press