Australia’s cricket team faces Covid-19 challenges ahead of the second Test against the West Indies, as allrounder Cameron Green and coach Andrew McDonald tested positive on Wednesday.
This comes after batter Travis Head contracted Covid at the conclusion of the first Test in Adelaide last week, which Australia won by 10 wickets.
Head has since tested negative and is cleared to play in Brisbane, where the day-night second Test begins on Thursday.
Green and McDonald, unless too unwell, are expected to participate in the match after returning negative tests, following Cricket Australia protocols.
“Cameron Green and Andrew McDonald will be separated from the group until they return a negative test,” stated Cricket Australia, adding that it will not hinder their participation in the match.
Covid protocols permit players to compete even if they do not receive negative results within the next 24 hours, but they must remain isolated from the rest of the playing group.
With opener Usman Khawaja passing concussion tests after a head blow in the Adelaide game, Australia is set to field an unchanged lineup.
Skipper Pat Cummins expressed confidence in his team’s familiarity with pink-ball Tests, stating, “No doubt playing a pink-ball Test almost every year, and some Shield cricket over the years with the pink ball, helps us familiarize ourselves … perhaps better than oppositions can, just by experience,” in a briefing with reporters.
