Australia head coach Andrew McDonald tests Covid-19 positive, to miss start of tour

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has returned a positive test for Covid-19 and is expected to miss the opening week of the Sri Lanka tour. The former Australian cricketer was unable to board his flight as scheduled and will now be kept in isolation for seven days before joining up with the squad.

The head coach is expected to join the Australian squad before the second T20I on June 8. Meanwhile, assistant coach Michael Di Venuto has been given the charge of the squad for the early days of the trip. Similarly, spin coach S Sriram and former Australia pacer Clint McKay will also be with the squad for the T20I and ODI series.

It may be noted that this will be McDonald’s first tour after being chosen as a full-time head coach, replacing Justin Langer in an interim capacity. As part of that, McDonald travelled with the team on their historic tour of Pakistan earlier this year. McDonald will have the help of two new assistant coaches including former Kiwi spinner Daniel Vettori and Andre Borovec during the two-match Test series. Borovec will also coach the Australia A squad which will play a total of four games on the tour, including two one-day games and two four-day matches.

The Australia tour of Sri Lanka will start on June 7. At first, the Aussies will take on the home side in a three-match T20I series, which will be followed by a five-match ODI series starting on June 14 and the final ODI match will be played on June 24. After the white-ball games, the focus will then shift to Test Cricket. The two-match Test series will start on June 29 with the second match to commence on July 8. To note, both Test matches will be played at the Galle International Stadium, Galle.

Australia T20I squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner, Matthew Wade (wk)

Australia ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner