West Indies cancel training after fast bowler Marquino Mindley tests positive for COVID-19

Cricket West Indies (CWI), on Sunday, May 23, revealed that they pulled the plug on their training camp in St Lucia after fast bowler Marquino Mindley tested positive for COVID-19. The Caribbean team is set to play two Test matches against South Africa from June 10 and both the games will be played at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet.

Ahead of the red-ball matches, the training camp was being conducted in a bio-secure environment. The two teams are then scheduled to lock horns in five T20Is at the National Cricket Stadium, St George’s, Grenada from June 26. On their official Twitter hand, CWI stated that the training would restart on Monday, May 24 in small groups after the members tested negative.

“Marquino Mindley tests positive for COVID-19. Training to start in small groups on Monday following negative repeat tests for the training squad.”

Cricket West Indies updates on Mindley

In the meantime, in a statement, CWI mentioned that Mindley returned coronavirus positive test results a second time in a row. The speedster is currently staying in isolation in his hotel room under the supervision of the CWI medical staff. He needs to return two negative tests before he can return to the park.

“Following PCR Tests administered on Friday 21 May for all members of the West Indies Men’s red ball training camp being held in St Lucia, Jamaican fast bowler, Marquino Mindley, tested positive on his second COVID-19 test,” the CWI said.

“All other members of the training squad and coaching team were re-tested and isolated in their rooms, with training cancelled for the weekend. All of these training squad and coaching team members have now tested negative following their repeat tests and the squad will train in small groups starting on Monday 24 May, at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground,” the statement added.

As far as Marquino is concerned, he has played 35 first-class and 11 List A matches in which he has picked up 84 and nine wickets respectively with four four-wicket hauls. He has also scored 466 runs in competitive cricket with a top score of 43. Ahead of the training camp, coach Phil Simmons talked about the importance of the session as a preparation for the Tests.