Cricketer Moeen Ali has tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Sri Lanka and will be placed in quarantine for ten days which rules him out of the first test. Chris Woakes has been deemed to be a close contact and will self-isolate for a minimum of seven days too. The positive result came from a PCR test conducted on Sunday (January 3) at Hambantota airport. In accordance with Sri Lanka's government guidelines, Moeen will have to isolate for ten days, until January 13th. As the first Test in Galle begins the following day, it is almost certain that he will be ruled out of that game.
England's players were tested on Thursday December 30th in advance of leaving the UK, and all returned negative test results, which means Moeen most likely picked the virus up in the three days between that test and leaving for Sri Lanka on Saturday evening. He will be transferred from Hambantota to Galle on Tuesday, the venue for both Tests, after the whole England squad have undergone a second round of PCR testing. The rest of the party will be able to begin training on Wednesday if the results of their second tests come back negative and will then head to Galle on January 10th.Moeen's cousin, the former England swing bowler Kabir Ali, was also diagnosed with Covid a few weeks ago and was obliged to pull out of a stint coaching in the LPL as a result. He has subsequently made a full recovery. The news comes three days after Joe Root, England's captain, said that a positive test would not necessarily put an end to the tour, instead suggesting that the squad would have to "manage it as [well] as possible". England's last two overseas tours - to Sri Lanka in March 2020, and South Africa in December - have been abandoned early due to concerns about the virus.
