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Australia captain Cummins was force to sit out the match at Adelaide Oval after the paceman was deemed to be a close contact with a positive coronavirus case at a restaurant.

Fellow fast bowler Starc and spinner Lyon dined at the same establishment, but were considered to be casual contacts with the person who had the virus.

Starc took 4-37 and Lyon claimed 3-58 as England meekly collapsed from 150-2 to 236 on day three in reply to 473-9 declared. Australia then closed in complete command on 45-1 in their second innings - leading by 282 runs.

Left-arm quick Starc revealed it could have been a very different story if Cummins had replied to his text message. 

He said: "It was just fortunate we were sitting outside. It was almost a bit of a p***-take because Pat didn't reply to my message so thought we'd sit away from him and sit outside so it's been a lucky one."

Starc says he did not lose any sleep fretting over whether dining out could have cost him another chance to exploit England's vulnerable batting line-up in a match Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of due to a side strain.

"Spinner [Lyon] didn't sleep. I slept quite fine, there wasn't much I could do about it after," he said.

It was revealed on Saturday that both sides will face stricter protocols for the Melbourne and Sydney Tests due to a rise in COVID-19 cases.

Players can only follow Starc and Lyon's lead and dine outside, while they must also socially distance with members of the public.

Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley told SEN radio: "We need to make sure there's social distancing, so we ask everyone to be respectful in the public.

"That's the real shame because what we have seen is players wanting to interact with fans. That's been a feature of the Big Bash. But we've now got very clear protocols.

"As it comes to those on the field of play we need to make sure that people are operating in a really biosecure way."

Wicketkeeper Paine shelled three catches as Australia toiled on the final day, with India batting out to a draw in relative comfort as the teams shook hands with the score 334-5 in the fourth innings at the SCG on Monday.

Ravichandran Ashwin finished unbeaten on 39 and was involved in spiteful verbal battle with Paine, which concluded with the gloveman calling him a "d*******".

Australia's conduct as their victory hopes slipped away has come under scrutiny after footage appeared to show former skipper Steve Smith trying to scrub out Rishabh Pant's guard marks on the crease during a thrilling counter-attacking innings of 97 in Sydney.

Having acknowledged his failings after the match, along with being fined 15 per cent of his match fee for showing dissent to umpire Paul Wilson on day three, Smith's successor Paine felt the need to address the media again on Tuesday as his conduct remained a talking point.

"I want to apologise for the way I went about things. I'm someone who prides themselves on the way I lead this team and yesterday was a poor reflection of the team," Paine said.

"I let the pressure of the game get to me. It affected my mood and from there, it affected my performance.

"Initially I reflected purely on my wicketkeeping. Last night I reflected on the whole game.

"I've had a really poor game as a leader. I'm a captain who wants to enjoy the game and wants to play the game with a smile on their face. I fell short of my expectations and our team's standards.

"I'm human. I want to apologise for the mistakes I made. It's certainly not a reflection of the way I want to lead this team. We've set high standards over the last few months and yesterday was a blip on the radar and something that I felt that I needed to come out and address.

"I feel that my mood throughout probably the whole Test match was a bit off. The way I spoke to the umpires early on day two was also unacceptable.

"I've got to cop that on the chin. It's not the way I want to lead this Australian team. It's certainly not a reflection of how I want to do it going forward.

"I apologise to our fans and people who heard some of the things I said, it wasn't good enough and particularly from the leader of this team."

The series is level at 1-1 heading into this week's decider at the Gabba in Brisbane, starting Friday.

"I'm really looking forward to getting to Brisbane and bouncing back and playing the game more like Tim Paine plays the game," Paine added. "Yesterday was a poor reflection of that and not something I want to be known for."

India face a host of fitness issues ahead of the quick turnaround in Brisbane.

Ravindra Jadeja is out with a broken thumb, while Pant (arm), Ashwin (back), Cheteshwar Pujara (finger) and Hanuma Vihari (hamstring) must all be assessed, with the latter a major doubt.

Matthew Mott's white-ball  were defeated by Australia on Saturday, with their 36-run loss leaving them staring at a group-stage elimination in their T20I title defence.

That result was compounded by Scotland's thrashing of Oman with 41 balls to spare as England suffered another blow to their hopes of progressing via net run-rate.

Another must-win match against Oman looms on Thursday, where England have to triumph before any other calculations of permutations can begin, says captain Buttler.

"I don't think it's s**t or bust quite yet," Buttler told reporters in Antigua. "I think it's quite clear what we need to do and how we need to play.

"First and foremost, we need to win the game against Oman to have any chance going forward into the next one.

"So we have to earn the right to try and win the game. And if we can get ourselves in a position to affect our net run-rate, obviously that's what we need to do."

England then face Namibia on Saturday to round off their group-stage campaign, though two victories for Buttler's side may still not be enough.

Scotland could still knock them out by beating Australia in their final match after England meet Namibia, when the Scots will have an advantage of a clear picture of what is required.

"We've looked at a few little bits but it's going to be ever-changing throughout the game," Buttler added.

"I don't think we need to consume too much energy today and tomorrow saying 'we need to score 'X' amount of runs or win by this much'. I think those kinds of things will develop on the day.

"That's the situation we find ourselves in, so we have to be aware of that, but not be consumed by that.

"If we try and do that bit first and forget about trying to win the game and lose, then you've got no chance anyway.

"So I'd rather have some kind of chance going into the last game, and know exactly what we need to."

England's white-ball struggles at the tournament have raised questions about Buttler's captaincy and coach Mott's tenure.

Buttler has no interest in the speculation surrounding his stewardship, however.

"I care more about the team than the media and the outside noise," he added. "That's always there, it's part of international sport. If you get to this level, you have to be able to deal with it, the job you guys do, that's the job TV does.

"It's probably harder to completely ignore it in this day and age, but there's a level of acceptance. Our focus has to be on what we can do with our performance.

"I've played the game long enough now to know that it's very good at building people up and pretty good at criticising when it doesn't go right, especially in England.

"I do the same thing when I'm watching a game of football or rugby – 'how's he missed that from there?' 'How did he miss from one-yard out', or 'someone's dropped the ball over the line'. Simple things like that.

"People care. That's why we're able to do what we do because people care and they want to watch. We're a proud team, we want to perform really well for all the fans.

"But to be honest, all the focus is on us and how well we can play. If we play as well as we can, we'll make our fans happy."

The Proteas were beaten 2-0 by Pat Cummins' side, avoiding a whitewash by securing a draw in a rain-affected final match of the series at the SCG.

South Africa have subsequently slipped to fourth in the World Test Championship table and look unlikely to qualify for the final at The Oval.

Elgar only made 56 runs in six innings in a one-sided series, but the opening batter is eager to remain skipper ahead of two home Tests against West Indies in February and March.

He said: "We've got two [Tests] and then potentially a lot of time off for myself for some gully cricket. Then the pressure is off a little bit. But, I enjoy the pressure. If [I was] scoring runs now, it would have been a lot easier to say yes [I want to continue] but obviously you've got to go into it and ask yourself those questions and I have. I still have the hunger and drive, no doubt."

Elgar was dismissed strangled down the leg side on three occasions Down Under, where he was unable to end his wait for a first Test century in over two years.

He said of being out in the same manner: "I can accept once, maybe twice, but the third time is something that highly irritates me.

"And it's something different for me. Generally you have a way of going out and bowlers target that. This is obviously something new and 10 years into a Test career, it's foreign territory for me.

"It's something to potentially reflect on and you can either say it's s*** luck or not. I'm going to have an open mind around it and have a look. It's just a bit frustrating that I could never get going through the series and when I did get going I managed to run myself out, which is also a massive no-no in Test cricket.

"All round, it's extremely frustrating. I have actually been batting well, my build-up has been good. There's been times where I have batted worse and I've actually got the performances, which is the ironic thing about this game."

Elgar believes a break will do him good ahead of the Windies series.

"I am taking as much time off as I want. That's what I need at the moment," he said. "There's been a few conversations with me and the batting coaches to potentially do extra work but for now, I just want to get on a plane, and go home, chill out a bit, have a braai and maybe go to the bush and play some golf.

"Those are the small things that South Africans are deprived of when you go on a tour. I am just going to go home and clutch out a bit."

Paine stepped down as Australia skipper in November - just 19 days before the Ashes series started - after he was embroiled in a sexting scandal.

The 37-year-old took a break from the game "for the foreseeable future" and has kept a low profile since his reign as captain of his country came to an end.

Paine has showed no signs of getting back in the middle, but the wicketkeeper has been passing on his experience with the Tasmanian Tigers.

Tasmania interim head coach Ali de Winter told reporters on Tuesday: "It's been a nice little distraction for him, I guess, to spend some time with us.

"He's been great with our young players stepping in [but] where he stands with his playing of cricket, I don't think he's really thought that far ahead.

"He's still doing his own physical training; he's not doing any batting or wicketkeeping at the moment, but he's certainly present around the group.

"I think he's just enjoying the re-entry into our group and just focusing on family life."

Australia thrashed England 4-0 to retain the Ashes after Pat Cummins replaced Paine as captain.

Langer resigned in February on the back of masterminding Australia's maiden T20 World Cup triumph and a 4-0 Ashes thumping of England on home soil.

The former opening batter turned down a short-term contract extension, bringing his reign to an end almost four years after replacing Darren Lehmann.

Ricky Ponting, the late Shane Warne, Matthew Hayden and Mark Waugh were among the Australia greats who hit out at Cricket Australia over their treatment of Langer.

The 51-year-old has spoken out over the issues he had to contend with, taking aim at interim Cricket Australia chairman Richard Freudenstein.

Langer told a Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA event in Perth: "The first thing he [Freudenstein] said to me was, 'It must make you feel so good that all your mates are supporting you in the media.'

"I said, 'Yeah it is, acting chairman, but with all due respect, those mates are also the all-time greats of Australian cricket. They are the fabric of Australian cricket. They are Australian cricket. They also work all around the world in cricket. So yeah, I'm glad my mates are looking after me. Imagine if you had have'.

"Ironically, the last six months of my coaching career were the most enjoyable period of 12 years of coaching. Not only did we win everything, but I had energy, and I had focus, and I was happy – besides the b******t politics."

Langer added: "It's no wonder you get tired. It's no wonder your health suffers; your mental, your physical health. You're trying to please everybody.

"The great lesson I learned was…I cleared my desk, and all of a sudden instead of having everything on my table, I had two things on my desk. One was winning and the second thing was my people.

"If you know people have got your back, you can achieve miracles. If they haven't, it's a very lonely place. Leadership can be very, very lonely. But it's not lonely when you know people have got your back."

Langer was linked with England before Brendon McCullum and Matthew Mott were appointed as Test and white-ball head coaches respectively.

Asked whether he would have taken a job with Australia's fierce rivals, Langer replied while shaking his head: "I've never spoken to English cricket. The thought of coaching England...mate!"

Matthew Mott's side are on the brink of an early elimination this month, with their 20-over title defence seemingly crumbling without escaping the group stage.

England struggled before rain washed out their opener with Scotland, who are the favourites to progress after Australia overcame Buttler's side on Saturday.

The defending champions must beat Oman and Namibia, while needing Australia to overcome Scotland by a less-than-narrow margin to have any hopes of going through on net run-rate.

That has brought questions over Buttler's tenure as England captain, though Root placed his backing in the 33-year-old, a former international team-mate and good friend of his.

"Jos is one of my good friends," the England Test star said. "I think he's a brilliant captain, so I don't think there's any question.

"I think they'll be absolutely fine, they've got a wonderful squad of players. They know exactly what they need to do.

"When it's all laid out and they've got their backs to the wall, which they have in this situation now, is when they play their best cricket.

"It could really bring the best out of them, so I've got no worries whatsoever.

"If they go out and do what they all know that they're capable of doing, we'll be finding ourselves in the Super 8s and the back-end of the tournament where it really matters to play our best stuff."

England face Oman on Thursday before meeting Namibia on Saturday, when Scotland go against Australia later in the day, boasting the advantage of knowing what result is required to progress.

That is on the minds of Australian players, too, with bowler Josh Hazlewood weighing up the options of helping send England out of the competition.

England coach Mott hopes the Australia quick's comments were in jest, though matters could be out of his side's hands come the weekend in the United States and West Indies.

The former West Indies captain, 36, played for Sunrisers between 2013 and 2014 and says he will be questioning his former team-mates over the "degrading" jibe.

Sammy's comments come amid the Black Lives Matter movement, which has seen anti-racism protests around the world following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.

He wrote in an Instagram story on Saturday: "Oh so that's what that meant when they called me and Thisara Perera Kalu in India when we played for Sunrisers. 

"I just thought they were calling me strong black man - I’m more piss now."

He added: "I just learnt what that kalu meant. When I played for Sunrisers in the IPL, they called me and Perera by that name. 

"I thought it meant strong Stallion. My previous post tells me something different and I am angry."

Sammy followed up with social media posts and a video on Monday, writing: "Knowledge is power. So recently I discovered a word that I was being called was not what it actually meant I need some answers. 

"So before I start calling out names I need these individuals to reach out and please tell me there's another meaning to that word and when I was being called it, it was all in love."

He added hashtags titled blackandproud, blackandconfident, clarasboy, saynotoracism, stopracism, cricketer and stlucia.

Sammy continued: "I was listening to Hasan Minhaj talking about how some of the people in his culture view or describe black people.

"Instantly I remembered when I played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013 and 2014, I was being called the exact same word that he described.

"I will be messaging those people - you guys know who you are. I must admit, at the time in which I was being called that, I did not know what it meant. 

"Me being a team man, I thought, hey, team-mates are happy, it must be something funny. You can understand my frustration and my anger when it was pointed out to me that it wasn't funny at all, it was degrading.

"So, I'm going to be texting you guys, and asking you guys, when you repeatedly called me that word over and over again to the point that I was even saying that's my name, did you all mean it in any way, shape or form as a degrading word to me.

"Reach out to me, let's have a conversation. Because, if it was in any way, shape or form what Minhaj said it meant, I'm very disappointed, and I'll still be angry, and deserve an apology from you guys, because I saw all of you guys as my brothers.

"So, talk to me, reach out to me, please clear the air."

Two of his team-mates in that period, Irfan Pathan and Parvez Rasool, have insisted they have no knowledge of the word being used.

"If something like that would have happened then it would have come to notice or a team discussion would have happened on the topic," Pathan told the Indian Express.

"I am not aware of any such incident and he [Sammy] has to take responsibility for his comments. 

"But I have seen some issues in domestic cricket. I think the real issue is education and society needs to learn."

Rasool added: "I never noticed anything like this. Sammy was my captain for one match during the season but he never told me anything like that.

"As a team, we had a very healthy environment and were a happy bunch of cricketers." 

Australia captain Cummins was force to sit out the match at Adelaide Oval after the paceman was deemed to be a close contact with a positive coronavirus case at a restaurant.

Fellow fast bowler Starc and spinner Lyon dined at the same establishment, but were considered to be casual contacts with the person who had the virus.

Starc took 4-37 and Lyon claimed 3-58 as England meekly collapsed from 150-2 to 236 on day three in reply to 473-9 declared. Australia then closed in complete command on 45-1 in their second innings - leading by 282 runs.

Left-arm quick Starc revealed it could have been a very different story if Cummins had replied to his text message. 

He said: "It was just fortunate we were sitting outside. It was almost a bit of a p***-take because Pat didn't reply to my message so thought we'd sit away from him and sit outside so it's been a lucky one."

Starc says he did not lose any sleep fretting over whether dining out could have cost him another chance to exploit England's vulnerable batting line-up in a match Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of due to a side strain.

"Spinner [Lyon] didn't sleep. I slept quite fine, there wasn't much I could do about it after," he said.

It was revealed on Saturday that both sides will face stricter protocols for the Melbourne and Sydney Tests due to a rise in COVID-19 cases.

Players can only follow Starc and Lyon's lead and dine outside, while they must also socially distance with members of the public.

Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley told SEN radio: "We need to make sure there's social distancing, so we ask everyone to be respectful in the public.

"That's the real shame because what we have seen is players wanting to interact with fans. That's been a feature of the Big Bash. But we've now got very clear protocols.

"As it comes to those on the field of play we need to make sure that people are operating in a really biosecure way."

The all-rounder, who averaged only 23.60 with the bat and took four wickets, said Joe Root’s side have taken some "hard lessons" from the chastening defeat Down Under.

Stokes helped to salvage a draw with a half-century in both innings in the fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but England suffered a brutal series hammering.

The vice-captain, who returned in Australia following a break to protect his mental health while also recovering from a finger injury, is determined to make amends in the upcoming series against West Indies.

"Looking back on Australia, we've had some honest reflections not only as a team but individuals as well," the 30-year-old said.

"I personally felt I let the team down with more than just performances, I would have liked to have been in better physical shape.

"When I look back on it, I felt I let myself down, but the thing that really grinds me the most and hurts me the most is that I let a lot of other people down and I never want to feel that way again. 

"Everyone's taken some good hard lessons from Australia."

England travelled to the Caribbean without legendary bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad, while head coach Chris Silverwood lost his job after the drubbing in Australia.

Stokes is fully behind captain Joe Root and says there is no point discussing the absence of Anderson and Broad.

"It's not all on the captain. Joe is 100 per cent the man to lead this team forward, and I'll be right behind him every step of the way,” he added.

"There's obviously been a big change with Stuart and Jimmy [being dropped,] but, with all due respect to them, they're not here and what we can concentrate on are the guys who are, and the opportunity they now have.

"We have made a real effort to make sure that from the top, the most experienced guy, Joe, to the guys who haven’t even played yet, we are valued just as much as each other. 

"When it comes to guys who are about to make their debut or haven't played much, there is that extra responsibility on the senior guys to help them through that.

"I don't see it as a negative whatsoever. The only thing for us now is [to be] positive, because there were a lot of negatives in Australia and it was a s*** place to be."

The first Test in the three-match series against West Indies start in Antigua on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old wicketkeeper will feature for Tasmania against Queensland in the Sheffield Shield on Thursday, despite missing out on a state contract for the season.

Paine stepped away from playing duties when details came to light of a historic investigation into a 2017 text message exchange between Paine and a female employee at Cricket Tasmania.

It meant he missed out on leading Australia into the 2021-22 Ashes series, resigning just weeks before the battle with England began. Paine's last first-class match saw him represent Tasmania against Western Australia in April 2021.

Ahead of his return at Allan Border Field in Brisbane, Paine said: "I'm pretty fresh, that's for sure."

Quoted by ABC, he added: "I've obviously been training for five, six weeks. I'm ready to go, excited, obviously a bit nervous, but looking forward to it."

Paine was backed by Tasmania coach Jeff Vaughan, who said team selectors were "quite unanimous" he should be welcomed back, describing him as "one of the world's best wicketkeepers".

"We have absolute faith and trust in Tim and his preparation," Vaughan said, quoted on cricket.com.au. "Physically he is probably in the greatest spot of his physical career, emotionally he is sound."

The return of Paine has also been backed in the Australia ranks, with T20 captain Aaron Finch saying: "I think Australian cricket is better for having Tim involved in a playing capacity."

Reports in Australia on Tuesday claimed Paine is set to give his side of the sexting story in a new book.

The 37-year-old wicketkeeper was playing in his first such match for 20 months, resuming a playing career that ground to a halt following a sexting scandal.

Paine stepped away from playing duties when details came to light of a historic investigation into a 2017 text message exchange between Paine and a female employee at Cricket Tasmania.

It meant he missed out on leading Australia into the 2021-22 Ashes series, resigning just weeks before the battle with England began. Paine's last first-class match had seen him represent Tasmania against Western Australia in April 2021.

A cheap dismissal on his comeback, caught by Matt Renshaw off paceman Gurinder Sandhu's bowling, saw Tasmania slip to 74-6 in their first innings, before recovering slightly to post 147 all out.

Paine took a catch in Queensland's reply, holding on to remove Renshaw and give Riley Meredith a wicket, as the home team at Allan Border Field reached 70-1 at stumps.