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Jonny Bairstow and team-mates from England await news of their tour of South Africa after another game is abandoned.
The England cricket tour of South Africa is in serious doubt after the first one-day international was halted on Sunday when hotel staff sent back positive Covid-19 tests.
Officials stopped the first ODI in Paarl just before the scheduled start time of 9pm (NZT), with neither team having traveled to the venue.
The opening game of the ODI series was originally scheduled for Friday in Cape Town, but was postponed after a South African player returned a positive Covid test.
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Sky Sports cricket presenters Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussein and Ian Ward discuss the postponement of the first ODI at Newlands on Friday.
On Saturday, two staff members of the hotel in England tested positive.
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* South Africa – England ODI postponed after player tests positive for Covid-19
A statement from both boards confirmed a delay on Sunday: “The English players and management underwent an additional round of testing on Saturday night after two members of the hotel staff tested positive for Covid-19,” he said.
“While the ECB awaits ratification of those test results, it has been decided to postpone the start of today’s ODI competition.”
It was abandoned shortly after as the status of the remaining ODIs were questioned on Monday and Wednesday.
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Covid restriction signs in place at Newlands Cricket Ground.
The series is played out in a bio-secured ‘bubble’, where players leave their Cape Town hotel only to play and train.
For last month’s Twenty20 series – which England won 3-0 – two South African players tested positive for Covid-19 and two others were placed in isolation.
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