Coronavirus won't stop Aussie handshake: Langer

Australia's men's team will continue to shake hands with each other despite the global outbreak of cornonavirus, says head coach Justin Langer.

Langer's comments in the wake of Australia's ODI loss to South Africa in Potchefstroom come less than a week after England captain Joe Root revealed his side will use "the well-established fist bump" as a greeting during their tour of Sri Lanka.

"We'll keep shaking hands … I reckon there's plenty of hand sanitizer in the Australian kits," Langer said.

"I'm sure we'll just keep shaking hands and move on from that."

Cricket South Africa confirmed on Friday their men's tour to India next week will go ahead after a formal risk assessment was carried out.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has claimed the lives of three Australians and more than 3000 around the world.

Image Id: B4A28F7EF061487FA7CDAEA8C0AB9BFD Image Caption: Fist bumps all round // Getty

Prior to leaving for Sri Lanka, Root told reporters his side will take extra precaution following the coronavirus outbreak and England's recent tour of South Africa, where a majority of the squad was struck down with gastro or flu.

"After the illnesses that swept through the squad in South Africa, we are well aware of the importance of keeping contact to a minimum," Root said last Monday.

"We've been given some really sound and sensible advice from our medical team to help prevent spreading germs and bacteria."

"We are not shaking hands with each other - using instead the well-established fist bump - and we are washing hands regularly and wiping down surfaces using the antibacterial wipes and gels we've been given in our immunity packs."

Australia's next assignment is on home soil where they face the Black Caps in a three-match Chappell-Hadlee ODI series starting Friday in Sydney before heading  to New Zealand for three T20 internationals.

Langer's side enter the one-day series coming off a 3-0 ODI series defeat against a resurgent South African side missing several key players, including Kagiso Rabada and Faf du Plessis.

Australia rested Pat Cummins for the final match in Potchefstroom, while Mitch Starc left the tour early to watch his wife Alyssa Healy compete in last night's T20 World Cup final at the SCG.

Langer says a long international summer, which started in October against Sri Lanka, has fatigued the three-format players in his side but is determined to refocus his charges ahead of the Gillette ODI Series against the Black Caps.

"The truth is we've got some weary boys at the moment, particularly our senior players," Langer said.

"They play so much cricket and you think about what they've done … since we started the World Cup. They went straight from the IPL which was almost a year ago, went straight from the IPL, straight to the World Cup, straight to the Ashes.

"What's been a golden summer for us until probably these last three one-dayers.

"We know we've still got six more games to play and then they've got to go again.

"We've probably learned the lessons from that in the past as well when the guys are playing all three forms, and playing IPL, how we keep them really sharp.

"We know how brilliant our cricketers are but even the best of the best, staying 100 per cent sharp all the time, is really hard to do.

"They're mentally tough guys but it's a real challenge for us."

Australia's Qantas Tour of South Africa 2020

Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitch Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Australia ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

First T20: Australia won by 107 runs

Second T20: South Africa won by 12 runs

Third T20: Australia won by 97 runs

First ODI: South Africa won by 74 runs

Second ODI: South Africa won by six wickets

Third ODI: South Africa won by six wickets