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Kent XI player tests positive for COVID-19, whole team put into self-isolation for 10 days

COVID-19 proved to be the nemesis yet again in a cricket tournament as an unnamed Kent player of their first XI team has tested positive for the deadly virus and has been forced to isolate himself along with the rest of the team members. The Kent team management has decided to field a fresh squad for the match against Sussex. 

They will field a second XI team with Heino Kuhn taking the charge. Meanwhile, the new-look squad will also feature in two of the vitality T20 games against Middlesex and Sussex with the quarter-final berth already secured. 

The positive case came out after an RT-PCR test which was administered on Saturday. The news was broken by the county through a media release. The player who has tested positive will now undergo a 10-day self-isolation starting from 10th July. The other members of the squad who was part of the Vitality Blast games on Friday night have been deemed as close contacts of the affected player and will need to quarantine themselves for 10 days. 

"With the emergence of the Delta variant and recent release in lockdown restrictions, the Club has been conscious of the increased possibility of an outbreak," Kent CEO Simon Storey said. 

"Overnight, the Club has worked swiftly to identify a replacement squad that will be ready to take on Sussex in the much-anticipated Canterbury Cricket Week, and will also be preparing for the final two matches of the group stages of the Vitality Blast, with a quarter-final berth already secured,” he further added.

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