Australian captain Pat Cummins has sensationally been ruled out of the second Ashes Test against England, deemed a close contact of a person who received a positive COVID-19 test.
The news comes on the morning of the first day of the pink-ball Test at Adelaide Oval, with Queensland fast bowler Michael Neser confirmed to replace Cummins in the XI for his debut on Thursday.
Former skipper Steve Smith will captain Australia in the absence of Cummins in the day-night Test in Adelaide.
Cummins was dining at a restaurant on Tuesday and was sat nearby to someone who has since been confirmed as a positive coronavirus case.
The star paceman did not breach any biosecurity protocols and isolated as soon as he became aware of the situation. Cummins has since had a PCR test, which produced a negative result.
However, Cummins has been confirmed as a close contact by South Australia Health and will be required to isolate for seven days, ruling him out of the second showdown with rivals England.
Cricket Australia (CA) said it anticipated Cummins will be available to play in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG in Melbourne.
"Cummins is understandably very disappointed not to be able to captain Australia for the day-night Test in Adelaide," CA said in a statement.
The 28-year-old fast bowler had led Australia to a nine-wicket victory in the Ashes opener as skipper in Brisbane, after taking over from Tim Paine.
Smith's deputising marks the first time he will have captained his country since the controversial 2018 sandpaper-gate Test match in Cape Town, which led to his dismissal as skipper and 12-month suspension.
Australia may have dodged a further bullet, revealing Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon were also dining at the same restaurant but at a separate table outdoors.
Both have been deemed casual contacts by SA Health and are free to play.
Head leads Australia to win as new-look England crumble in chase
Travis Head led the way for Australia, setting them on their way to a comfortable 28-run victory over England in their first of three T20Is on Wednesday.
England had salvaged some pride during Australia's late collapse, only to fumble their chance with the bat as they failed to reach their target of 180.
Australia got off to a flying start, with Head hitting 59 off 23 balls, including 30 off Sam Curran in a single over with three fours and three sixes.
Liam Livingstone helped to slow the tide with 3-22, including taking opener Matt Short (41), before the tourists collapsed, losing their last five wickets for 14 runs, with Jofra Archer taking two in two (2-31), to finish 179 all out.
The hosts just could not get going though, as Phil Salt was caught for 20 before Curran (18) and Livingstone (37) both departed in the space of four deliveries to stunt any England progress.
Jordan Cox (17), one of three debutants, had already been dismissed, thanks to Tim David's stunning catch at full stretch, before the lower order slumped to 151 in the final over.
The second T20I takes place on Friday in Cardiff, where England will attempt to force a decider for the final contest on Sunday.
Data Debrief: Unhappy homecoming
Australia have won back-to-back T20Is against England for the first time since February 2018, but the hosts would have expected much better when they saw the target set for them.
Instead, they failed to win a third consecutive T20 match at The Rose Bowl, their longest outright losing streak at the venue in the history of the format.
Southgate in no hurry to return to football after England departure
Gareth Southgate says he is keeping an open mind about what comes next in his career but is in no hurry to rush back into football.
Southgate stepped down as England manager in July, shortly after England's second consecutive European Championship final defeat.
The 54-year-old was in charge of the Three Lions for eight years, leading the team through four major tournaments, while only Walter Winterbottom (139) and Alf Ramsey (113) managed more games for the national team than Southgate (102).
England are still searching for a new permanent manager, with interim head coach Lee Carsley impressing in his first two matches, leading the team to consecutive 2-0 wins over the Republic of Ireland and Finland in the Nations League.
Southgate has been linked with a move to Manchester United as the pressure piles on Erik ten Hag and with a position at UEFA.
However, the former England manager says he is not expecting to step back into football any time soon.
"I've got lots of opportunities, I'm very open-minded to what's next," he told Sky News.
"That might be in football, that might be outside of football. I'm just going to take some time, refresh, recharge and go from there.
"I think at the moment people know that I need to get my energy back."
Southgate led England to their first major tournament final since 1966 at Euro 2020 and helped the team reach their first final on foreign soil in Germany over the summer.
England also became the first team in history to lose consecutive Euros finals, with Southgate the only manager to ever lose two such matches.
However, his 14 wins at major tournaments are the most of any manager in England's history, and he is proud of the work he did during his time in charge.
"I think it was probably the right time for change," he added.
"I don't think you can have regrets. We made decisions with the information we had at the time to try and produce a winning team. I gave the job everything I had.
"We raised expectations and that was important. We needed to put English football back on the map."
Kane not setting limits on England achievements after milestone appearance
Harry Kane insisted the sky is the limit for what he can achieve with England after marking his 100th Three Lions appearance with two goals against Finland.
Kane, who became the 10th England centurion on Tuesday, marked the milestone with a second-half brace after seeing a header ruled out for offside before the break.
The Bayern Munich striker has been directly involved in 85 goals (68 goals and 17 assists) since his England debut in March 2015.
He also netted his 26th and 27th goals at Wembley, the most that any Three Lions player has managed at the iconic venue.
Kane also became the third England player to score on his 100th appearance, after Wayne Rooney (2014) and Bobby Charlton (1970).
Having taken inspiration from Cristiano Ronaldo's 900th career goal ahead of kick-off, Kane has no signs of stopping yet as he eyes 100 goals for his country.
"I try never to set limits on what I can achieve," said Kane. "I know playing in this team, I am going to get chances and, if I get chances, I feel like I can score many goals.
"I am going to keep going as long as I can and who knows what we can achieve? Some of the top players in the world have scored more than I have, so there are targets there to try and achieve."
Kane's double also led England to consecutive victories in the Nations League for the first time since 2018, while helping them maintain their unbeaten record against Finland.
The Three Lions return to Nations League action next month when they welcome Greece to Wembley on October 10, before travelling to Finland three days later.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
