Sri Lanka's tour of the West Indies could be rescheduled after head coach Mickey Arthur and batsman Lahiru Thirimanne tested positive for coronavirus.

Arthur and opener Thirimanne are following government health protocols after discovering they had contracted COVID-19 in the latest round of testing on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka are due to head out to the Caribbean this month, but the tour may be put back.

A Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) statement released on Wednesday said: "Following PCR Tests carried out on the provisional squad, which was preparing to take part in the national team's upcoming tour of the West Indies, head coach Mickey Arthur and Sri Lanka player Lahiru Thirimanne have tested positive for Covid-19.  

"They were detected following PCR Tests carried out yesterday for the entire 36-member squad, along with the coaching staff, net bowlers, and the HPC Staff.  

"Immediately upon identification, both Mickey Arthur and Lahiru Thirimanne have been directed to follow the government’s health protocol laid out on COVIDI-19.  

"The 36-member group commenced practices on the 28th January, in three groups and at different time periods, as a precautionary health measure. 

"Considering the current situation, SLC is exploring the possibility of rescheduling the Tour of the West Indies, which was scheduled to commence on 20th Feb, 2021.

"In the meantime, Sri Lanka Cricket will continue with normal operations, adhering to the stipulated health protocols in all its centers."

Sri Lanka were whitewashed 2-0 by England in a recent series in Galle.

West Indies left-arm spinner, Jomel Warrican, has credited discipline, accuracy, and strong field setting as crucial factors that enabled a three-wicket haul on day one of the first Test against Bangladesh, in Chittagong, on Tuesday.

At stumps, Warrican had claimed figures of the 3 for 58 as Bangladesh ended the day on 242 for 5.  Another wicket was claimed by pace bowler Kemar Roach with a run out accounting for the other.

The spinner could indeed have plenty of reason to delight in the field placing, and performance for that matter, as two of his wickets resulted from catches.  Firstly, John Campbell took a sharp catch at short midwicket after Mominul Haque lost some patience and failed to keep a lofted drive down.  The other was a brilliant catch at slip by Raheem Cornwall, after Mushfiqur Rahim attempted a defensive stroke that carried to the fielder.  In-between, the bowler ended the run of a dangerous looking Shadman Islam, when the batsman was given lbw just before tea.

“Being disciplined and accurate at the same time, as well as setting the right field,” Warrican responded when asked about the keys to his opening day success.

“I thought it best to bring them on the front foot as much as possible because when they play back they have a lot of time.  The more you bring them on the front foot is the more you ask questions,” he added.  

Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican took three wickets but Bangladesh held a slight edge at stumps of day one of the first Test against the West Indies at Chattogram today.

Coach of local track and field club Sprint Tech, Maurice Wilson, admits that he is eager to see local track and field meets return to the island, with the Olympic Games just a few months away.

With the island still firmly in the grips of battling the coronavirus pandemic, local track meets have for the most part remain shuttered.  However, following an announcement by prime minister Andrew Holness last week, expectations are high that the situation will be remedied over the next few weeks.

“I’m hoping that it will be four weeks, five weeks, no more than that before we can get back to competition, sooner rather than later,” Wilson told Television Jamaica.

With COVID-19 protocols remaining in effect, however, meets that restart will not be business as usual and several adjustments will have to be made in order to comply with the regulations.

“I’d like to think that the longer we take to get back to regular competition is the more creative we will have to get.  We did that in the summer when MVP organized the Velocity Fest meets and we were a part of that…I think that we will have to be creative as well and move forward until things are regularised.”

West Indies stand-in captain, Kraigg Brathwaite, has backed off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall to make a telling impact in the upcoming Test against Bangladesh.

The spinner showed himself to be in good form after claiming five wickets against a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI last week.  Outside of taking the wickets, Cornwall proved hard to get away and boasted an economic rate of 2.82.  Brathwaite backed the spinner to carry that form into the series, on a pitch that is suited for spinners.

“He did a very good job in the practice game, created a lot of pressure, bowling dot balls and such.  I think he’ll do well in the series.  He’s a quality off-spinner, we all know this,” Brathwaite told members of the media via an online press conference on Tuesday.

“We just need to stick to our plans, support him in the field, support all the bowlers not only Rahkeem but we look forward to him doing well this series, all the bowlers."

Cornwall’s best performance so far for the West Indies came in Asia when he claimed 7 for 75 in an innings against Afghanistan and claimed 10 wickets overall.  The West Indies will begin the first Test against Bangladesh at 10:30 pm on Tuesday (9:30 pm ECT).

West Indies head coach, Phil Simmons, insists the team must be ready to take advantage of any rustiness on the part of the Bangladesh team but insists the hosts are firm favourites heading into the series.

The Bangladesh team has not played a Test since February when they faced Zimbabwe at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.  The West Indies has in the meantime, played two-Test series against England and then New Zealand.

Relying on that statistic would, however, be slightly misleading as several of the West Indies' first-team players opted out of the tour, leaving the unit to rely on more inexperienced players for the tour.  In such circumstances and Bangladesh’s home record, Simmons is skeptical of there being any advantage but hopes the team will be able to captilise once there is.

“There could be a little bit of vulnerability early in the Test because they haven’t played any international Test cricket for a year now and getting back into it might expose some vulnerability early on," Simmons told members of the media.

“I’m sure that, that would be taken care of because they have a fairly experienced team, with the likes of Tamim and Shakib.  The experience is there so it might not last too long, but if it does happen, we have to take that opportunity and seize on it,” he added.

“Bangladesh will always have the edge no matter who they are playing at home.  They are a very strong side when they play at home.  So, they will always have the edge even when they haven’t played any cricket for a year.”

Bangladesh won the previous series, which consisted of three ODI matches, against the West Indies 3-0.

Kiara Grant equalled her 60m personal best while winning the event at the Virginia Beach Invitational earlier today.

A special fund to assist former Jamaica’s national representatives who have fallen on the hard times is to be established by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport.

Fidel Edwards is harbouring ambitions of representing the West Indies at the ICC T20 World Cup later this year.

A disappointed but not disheartened Terry Fenwick, coach of Trinidad and Tobago said the team failed to stick to the game plan which resulted in the 7-0 drubbing at the hands of the United States on Sunday night.

Natoya Goule picked up another win on the indoor circuit this season when she sped to victory on the 800m at the Clemson Bob Pollock Invitational on Saturday.

An 82-run eighth-wicket partnership between Joshua Da Silva and Raymon Reifer was the highlight of the final day of the three-day ‘warm-up’ match between the West Indies and the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI that ended in a draw today.

Jamaica sprinter and Oregon junior Kemba Nelson clocked a blistering 7.19 to claim victory in the women’s 60 at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Saturday.

In surging to the line, the 20-year-old turned the tables on USC all-American TeeTee Terry.  Terry, the 2019 NCAA champion in the event, finished second in 7.24. Oregon senior Brianna Duncan was third in 7.30.  Nelson’s time is seventh fastest all-time at Oregon.

On the previous day in the 200m, it was Terry who took top billing finishing in 23.35, ahead of Nelson who ran second in 23.53.

Nelson, the national junior double sprint champion in 2019, joined Oregon last fall after three years at the University of Technology (Utech), in Jamaica.