Australian pacer Kane Richardson tested for coronavirus, results awaited

Sydney: Australian fast bowler Kane Richardson has been tested for the novel coronavirus after he reported illness and will miss the first ODI against New Zealand on Friday, March 13.

The right-arm pacer, who returned with the Australian team from South Africa earlier this week, informed the medical staff of a sore throat on Thursday and was tested for the virus, though the results of the test are awaited.

“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 was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

“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.”

The 29-year-old will be replaced by Sean Abbott, who was a part of Australia’s T20 squad that toured South Africa.

Australia takes on New Zealand for a three-match ODI series starting here on Friday. It will be played without fans in a bid to control the coronavirus pandemic that has rocked world sport.