England Test plans up in air as Curran self-isolates

ENGLISH cricket was crossing its fingers last night after allrounder Sam Curran went into self-isolation and underwent a Covid-19 test following a bout of vomiting and diarrhoea inside the team bubble at the Ageas Bowl. Curran’s health was said to have improved by the evening, but a positive result today would jeopardise England’s preparations for next week’s first Test against West Indies, who have been notified of the development. The ECB were tight-lipped about the wider ramifications of a positive result, though Curran himself will begin seven days of quarantine, while the next round of testing — currently set for Sunday — will almost certainly be brought forward. All 29 squad members, plus the backroom staff, have been tested three times each since entering Southampton’s biosecure set-up on June 23. Sources remain hopeful Curran has succumbed to nothing more serious than a 24-hour bug. But the repercussions of a positive result — with team-mates forced into self-isolation less than a week before the start of the first Test on Wednesday, and inevitable questions about the viability of biosecure sport during a pandemic — do not bear thinking about. The news overshadowed the second day of England’s practice match, though Somerset offspinner Dom Bess made his case for inclusion against West Indies with figures of 20-6-60-2 as Ben Stokes’s team were bowled out for 233 in reply to Jos Buttler XI’s total of 287 for five declared. Bess, 22, who has played just four Tests, was England’s first-choice spinner during their 3-1 win in South Africa earlier this year and he insisted: ‘I want to push that spot and make it my own. The ball came out of my hand really nicely.’