Kane Richardson Tested For Coronavirus, Quarantined After Reporting Illness

Australia fast-bowler Kane Richardson has been quarantined after reporting a mild sore throat on Thursday night. The Australia squad arrived at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday for the first ODI against New Zealand without the right-arm fast-bowler as the authorities decided to keep the latter in isolation in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Having returned from South Africa this week with the Australia’s ODI squad, Kane Richardson informed the team’s medical staff last night of the complaint and has been tested for COVID-19, according to Cricket Australia. Kane Richardson is reportedly feeling fine and will immediately come to the ground if tests return a negative result.

“Our medical staff are treating this as a typical throat infection but we are following Australian Government protocols that require us to keep Kane away from other members of the squad and perform the appropriate tests given he has returned from international travel in the last 14 days,” a Cricket Australia spokesperson said.

“Once we receive the results of the tests and Kane recovers in the next few days we expect he will re-join the team. We will not be making further comment until something changes,” added the spokesperson.

Australia have called up fast-bowler Sean Abbott as cover for Kane Richardson. Abbott was part of Australia’s T20 squad in the recent tour of South Africa but was dropped for the series against New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia have also decided that the three-match ODI series will be played in front of empty stands in the wake of the spreading pandemic. At this stage, all three Chappell-Hadlee ODIs will be played behind closed doors, while the Australian Women’s Cricket Team has had their limited-overs tour of South Africa cancelled.

Australia are set to travel to New Zealand for a T20 tour, which begins in Dunedin on March 24. But unlike Cricket Australia, New Zealand Cricket has stated that  the series will go ahead as planned with fans permitted to attend.

Also Read: England Set To Cancel Sri Lanka Test Series: Report