England Covid outbreak: Who’s affected, when do they play, who’s in the squad
England's summer has been dealt a major blow after the entire team were forced into self-isolation after seven members of the team tested positive for Covid.
Of those seven, three were players and four were team management members, but the entire party have been deemed close contacts and will also isolate.
It means a new team will need to be selected, led by the returning Ben Stokes, for the entirety of the upcoming series against Pakistan.
Chris Silverwood's side will begin the series on Thursday with a fresh line-up that will be announced later today.
England have a busy schedule of cricket this summer so the latest setback is far from ideal, even if it does allow for new faces to impress.
Who has been forced into self-isolation?
Only two days ago England had named an unchanged 16-player squad for the series against Pakistan following a comprehensive success against Sri Lanka.
That included the majority of their big names with captain Eoin Morgan among those now isolating.
It remains unknown who the three players to test positive for Covid were.
The close contact rule though means Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes will also be absent.
Sam Curran, who starred in the recent win over Sri Lanka at the Oval, and Surrey team-mate Jason Roy are isolating too.
Adil Rashid and Sam Billings will also be unavailable for selection.
What does England's schedule look like?
Well it is certainly jampacked.
It has already been confirmed that the isolating group will miss the entire ODI series with Pakistan that begins in Cardiff on Thursday.
The three games will take place over five days, concluding at Edgbaston on July 13.
Just three days later a three-game T20 series begins at Nottinghamshire's Trent Bridge.
Who should England pick in their newly assembled squad? Comment below.
Based on the ten-day isolation rule Engalnd should be able to welcome back their unavailable stars for the T20 games.
That said, whilst the squad is often similar, other players such as Dawid Malan are likely to come in for that series.
The schedule is as follows:
July 8 – England vs Pakistan ODI
July 10 – England vs Pakistan ODI
Jul 13 – England vs Pakistan ODI
July 16 – England vs Pakistan T20
July 18 – England vs Pakistan T20
July 20 – England vs Pakistan T20
A five-test series against India will then conclude England's home summer of cricket.
What has been said?
Tom Harrison, chief executive at the ECB, insists they have been prepared for a Covid outbreak having been aware of the newest variants.
A new squad has swiftly been selected and is due to be announced soon.
He said: ''We have been prepared for this moment, and mindful that the emergence of the Delta variant, along with our move away from the stringent enforcement of bio secure environments, could increase the chances of an outbreak.
"We made a strategic choice to try to adapt protocols, in order to support the overall wellbeing of our players and management staff who have spent much of the 14 months living in very restricted conditions.
"Overnight we have worked swiftly to identify a new squad, and we are grateful to Ben Stokes who will return to England duties to captain.
"We also recognise the impact this news will have on our first-class counties and their men's playing squads and thank them, along with our partners Sky and Royal London, for their ongoing support in dealing with this pandemic.''
Who is in the new squad?
Ben Stokes (captain), Jake Ball, Danny Briggs, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Lewis Gregory, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Dan Lawrence, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Matt Parkinson, David Payne, Phil Salt, John Simpson, James Vince.
Ashley Giles, Managing Director of England Men's Cricket, said: "It's a great opportunity to play on the biggest stage, and for most of the players selected it's not necessarily something they would have been expecting 24 hours ago.
"It's an exciting group of players, with some young talent and some players who have impressed at domestic level over a long period of time.
"We're in unprecedented territory, in terms of replacing an entire squad and management team, and I'm very proud of how everyone has come together in order to get it done – both those within the ECB and from the county game.
"Ben hasn't captained our ODI side before so it's a huge honour for him. We all wish him well and it's a role I'm sure he'll thrive in.
"I'd like to also put on record the thanks of the ECB to the PCB for their support and understanding during this time."
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