Windies ODI series to resume after COVID-19 case

Australia's one-day international series against West Indies will resume with the final two matches rescheduled for Saturday and Monday (local time) after no further COVID-19 infections were discovered in the latest round of testing.

The Aussies' tour of the Caribbean came to a grinding halt only minutes before the second ODI at Kensington Oval was set to get underway on Thursday (Friday morning AEST) after a West Indian support staff member in the bio-secure bubble returned a positive COVID-19 test.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) confirmed Friday that none of the other 152 people tested on Thursday evening local time have returned positive results.

CWI has confirmed the support staff member who tested positive is no longer in the bubble.

Cricket Australia has agreed to ‘resume’ the second one-dayer on Sunday morning AEST (when the third ODI was originally scheduled for) and then play the third match on Tuesday morning AEST.

It is unclear whether the toss result and the same teams as were originally selected (with Riley Meredith included for his first ODI and Aaron Finch still missing due to an injured knee) for the second ODI on Thursday will remain locked in for the resumption of play.

Cricket West Indies suggested Australia would bat first as captain Alex Carey elected to do on Thursday, but Cricket Australia says it is still to be confirmed.

The International Cricket Council has been contacted for clarification.

Australia had some flexibility in their schedule, having originally been set to remain in Barbados until their planned departure on Wednesday for Dhaka where they will play a five-match T20I series against Bangladesh.

Image Id: C46C00CEBFC1491CA00FA658F54C3EEF Image Caption: Australia team manager Gavin Dovey and doctor Leigh Golding discuss the situation on Thursday // cricket.com.au

The Windies however will be left with a tight turnaround between the end of the third ODI against Australia, which will finish late on Monday evening, and the first T20I of a five-game series against Pakistan scheduled to start at 11am the following morning.

But the Windies said in a statement that they would "meet with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in the coming days to discuss any necessary changes to the match schedule."

Image Id: 6D0052EAC8864D31AD6E1CB0CDC8B212 Image Caption: Injured Australia captain Aaron Finch leaves Kensington Oval on Thursday // Getty

Australian players have been in isolation at their hotel in Barbados since the match was postponed while officials from Cricket West Indies (CWI), Cricket Australia, the Barbados Cricket Association and the Barbados government were in discussions over the resumption of the series.

Medical staff had been seeking to clarify whether the positive result returned by the support staff member could be a historical infection or a false positive.

"We want to thank our counterparts at CA for their co-operation in this matter as we look to get the games going again," Cricket West Indies president Ricky Skerrit said.

"Special thanks to our CEO Johnny Grave, Chairman of Cricket Australia, Earl Eddings, his CEO Nick Hockley along with our respective medical and operations teams.

"It has been a challenging two days and we have worked very swiftly and safely, following all the established medical protocols, to make sure that all necessary precautions are in place to ensure that we can go-ahead to resume play safely, tomorrow.

"We will continue to monitor the situation and respond accordingly."

Qantas Tour of the West Indies 2021

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Wes Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (vc for ODIs), Dan Christian, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade (vc for T20Is), Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Nathan Ellils, Tanveer Sangha.

West Indies ODI squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Shai Hope (vc), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Anderson Phillip, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd

T20 series: West Indies won 4-1
(all matches at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia)

First T20: West Indies won by 18 runs

Second T20: West Indies won by 56 runs

Third T20: West Indies won by six wickets

Fourth T20: Australia won by four runs

Fifth T20: West Indies won by 16 runs

ODI series
(all matches at Kensington Oval, Barbados)

First ODI: Australia won by 133 runs

Second ODI (D/N): July 25, 4.30am AEST (July 24, 2.30pm local)

Third ODI (D/N): July 27, 4.30am AEST (July 26, 2.30pm local)