The Mail on Sunday

Finally, South Africa tour gets go-ahead

- From Paul Newman CRICKET CORRESPOND­ENT IN PAARL

ENGLAND’S one-day series against South Africa will finally continue today after a tour beset by problems and positive Covid tests was salvaged at the last minute.

All 17 remaining members of the South African 50-over squad, together with their management and hotel staff, had another round of emergency testing on Friday night and to their board’s immense relief all came back negative yesterday.

That followed a third South African player on this visit testing positive on Thursday and forcing the late postponeme­nt of the first of three 50-over internatio­nals due to take place at Newlands on Friday. Two players, believed to be David Miller and Andile Phehlukway­o, had already tested positive ahead of the Twenty20 series but they have now been given the all-clear.

Most alarmingly, the third player is said to have become infected within the bio-secure bubble at the Vineyard Hotel that was supposed to have protected both teams but South Africa vehemently deny any protocols have been breached.

South Africa have not named the player concerned but all-rounder Heinrich Klassen wit hdrew from t he t hi r d Twenty20 internatio­nal last Tuesday because he felt ill and it is understood he will not be available for today’s opening match in Paarl.

The player concerned was said to be devastated he put the tour in jeopardy but he remains in isolation, where he has been since Tuesday and was not retested along with his team-mates on Friday.

England’s players have been concerned about some apparently unorthodox practices in a South African bubble that is not believed to be anywhere near as stringent as that which saved the English summer.

Those concerns have been somewhat eased by yesterday’s positive news about negative results and the series will now be played today, tomorrow and on Wednesday, as long as South Africa come through Tuesday’s final round of testing.

There is no question that another positive test would have led to the cancellati­on of the one-day series and put in jeopardy visits of South Africa due to be made by Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan.

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