Two England players may have tested COVID positive, reports suggest

South Africa-England ODI abandoned after two members of hotel staff get COVID

The first ODI in a scheduled three-match ODI series between South Africa and England has been abandoned due to the dreaded COVID-19. This time, the reason for the match to be given the red signal were the positive results of COVID tests done on two members of the hotel staff where the English team stayed in Cape Town. The shocking discovery forced the match to be first delayed and then, eventually, getting called off. The series is already running behind schedule as the first match was first scheduled to be played on the 4th of this month. But it had to be postponed due to one of the players in the South African camp testing positive. Now, the English team is undergoing tests to see if any one of them has caught the virus. If they have, the entire tour may come to an early and abrupt end. An initial statement from the two countries explained the situation thus: "The England players and management underwent an additional round of PCR tests on Saturday evening, after two members of the hotel staff testing positive for Covid-19," it said. "Whilst the ECB awaits ratification of those test results the decision has been taken to delay the start of today's ODI match." Since this statement, the match has been abandoned. The second ODI is scheduled to take place tomorrow at Paarl, the same venue, but it too comes under doubt now.

NZ vs WI | 1st Test: Kane Williamson, bowlers power Kiwis to crushing win over Windies

A swashbuckling century from Jermaine Blackwood and a valiant effort by the bowler Alzzari Joseph with the bat could help the West Indies a little but to delay an inevitable loss as the hosts New Zealand trounced them by an innings and 134 runs. The tourists had an uphill task in the first Test of the two-match series from the outset on a pitch that was tough to differentiate with the outfield and was headed to only one direction when the Blackcaps skipper Kane Williamson put on a show and produced a Man of the Match performance with a double century to flatten the voting bowling lineup and dismal batting performances by the Windies on Day 3 when they were bundled out for a mere 138 runs in their first innings. West Indies started the match on a perfect note, winning the all-important toss and decided to bowl first on the pitch that promised a lot of bounce and seam movement from the word go. Jason Holder could not have asked for a better start than the one his bowler had given him with Shannon Gabriel finding the debutant Will Young rooted to his crease, against one of his very full and fast deliveries. Holder and Windies would have thought of building on from that good start with the ball, but what followed next was just a masterclass on how to bat on those sort of pitches. Another Kiwi opener Tom Latham and Kane Williamson put on a near-perfect partnership as the tourists had to wait for another 50 overs and 154 runs to separate them. Williamson was unfazed and he kept on piling the runs and agonies on the visitors as batsmen on the other end kept wasting their starts. By the second day, when the hosts declared after a mammoth total of 519, Windies openers had their tasks cut out in defending the hungry bunch of New Zealand bowlers and they fought admirably to go back to the pavilion at the end of day 2 without losing any wickets. Kiwi bowlers are a force to reckon and they go on a rampage on home pitches and the wave of wickets for them had to arrive at some stage of the match and it started with the morning session of the day three of this Test. First to go was John Campbell, who was sucked into playing a drive-by Tim Southee, who slanted a ball across him after setting him up with inswingers one after another. Campbell was caught by Williamson when he had a miss-hit from a full ball and fell embarrassingly caught hitting the ball in the air. Southee was into a nice rhythm and Shamarh Brooks was not good enough to handle a jaffa from him that moved in the air from the line of the stump and mayhem that everyone was expecting to happen sooner or later, had arrived in the first Test as the tourists could never come back to their own and were bundled out for a mere 138 runs. Southee was the pick of the Kiwi bowlers, picking four wickets while Boult had one to his tally, while both Wagner and Jamieson had two each to his name in the first innings. West Indies were routed in 62 overs and Kane Willimaons sniffed an opportunity of crushing any chance of a West Indies comeback and called them to follow on when the home bowlers were in a good rhythm. New Zealand opening pair with the new ball vindicated the follow-on call taken by Williamson by bettering their performance with the new ball compared to the first innings and dismissed all batsmen in the top four of the West Indies line up such as John Campbell, Shamarh Brooks, Darren Bravo and a reliably solid Kraig Braithwaite inside 10 overs. Two more wickets of the vice-captain Roston Chase and captain Jason Holder followed as the hosts closed in on a three-day win but Jermaine Blackwood showed character and started taking the game to the opposition in his usual style. The game got extended to the fourth day on the back of valiant efforts from Blackwood and Joseph. The duo forged a strong and attacking partnership of 155 runs from only 36 overs, establishing the kind of batting tactics they adopted in the middle. Blackwood went on to score a century(104) from 141 balls while Joseph missed out on a heroic ton and was dismissed on 89 by Kyle Jamieson. Joseph was dismissed on 244 and the hosts made sure the Windies did not extend the game any far and dismissed the next two wickets in a span of one over to go 1-0 up in the two-match Test series. The sides will now travel to Wellington to play the second and the final Test of the series to conclude the tour that has been dominated by the Blackcaps. Windies will have to pull up their socks if they have to stand any chance to stand against the dominating team of New Zealand.

Mitchell Starc opts out of ongoing T20 series against India due to personal reasons

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc has opted out of the ongoing T20 series against India due to health concerns in the family. There is lack of clarity on the exact issue that made him leave the team to join the family, but his exclusion from the team will dent the hosts’ bowling line up with Pat Cummins already eng rested for the Test series. "There is nothing in the world more important than family and in this case, Mitch is no exception. We will give Mitch all the time he needs and welcome him back into the squad with open arms whenever he feels the time is right for him and his family," said Justin Langer, the Australian men’s team Head Coach. Starc will join the long list of players in the Australian camp to miss out from the T20 series due to injuries or personal reasons. David Warner, Ashton Agar, Marcus Stoinis, all have been knocked out of the squad due to injury. Starcs unavailability will allow Daniel Sams to have a perfect opportunity to make his debut in the Australian colours, especially as he can be a like-for-like replacement to Starc being a left-arm [pacer. However, Daniel Sams is a different bowler than Starc and India will love the prospect of no Starc in the opposition lineup as they are chasing a series win in Sydney.

England in South Africa: Cricket skating on thin ice amid Covid calamity

Pandemic-stricken cricket is living on the knife's edge with instances of lapses in bio-bubble security growing by the day.