Somerset seamer Jack Brooks has become the first Covid-19 substitute in the County Cricket replacing Lewis Gregory from the Somerset playing XI in the ongoing championship match against Middlesex in Taunton.
Announcing what caused the exclusion of Lewis Gregory, the Somerset Cricket Club has said that a member of Gregory’s private bubble has undergone a test following he was felt unwell in the morning. Although the test returned a negative result, Gregory will have to continue in isolation till the further rounds of testing rule out Covid-19 in his associate.
“A member of Lewis Gregory's private bubble was feeling unwell this morning and has taken a lateral flow test. This test proved to be negative, but protocol dictates that until the results of a further test have been received, Lewis will remain in isolation as per Government guidelines,” Somerset said in its statement.
Lewis Gregory picked up two wickets in the first innings of the Middlesex side and Brooks’ name as the Covid-19 substitute was approved by the match referee Wayne Noon.
Notably, Gregory had himself contracted Covid-19 earlier this year while representing Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League which was later postponed on the account of rising Covid1-9 cases in bubbles of teams.