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Sam Curran tests negative for Covid-19 to ease fears that England's biosecure bubble is compromised

Sam Curran - Sam Curran tests negative for Covid-19 to ease fears that England's biosecure bubble is compromised - GETTY IMAGES
Sam Curran - Sam Curran tests negative for Covid-19 to ease fears that England's biosecure bubble is compromised - GETTY IMAGES

Sam Curran tested negative for Covid-19 on Friday, easing fears that the virus could have infiltrated the biosecure bubble at the Ageas Bowl and wreaked havoc with England’s preparations for Wednesday’s first Test against West Indies.

Curran was tested on Thursday and put in isolation after suffering a bout of diarrhoea and vomiting. He missed the final day of England’s intra-squad practice match but he was given the all-clear at lunchtime on Friday. He will return to training over the weekend and be tested again on Saturday for coronavirus, along with the rest of the squad, before starting preparations for the Test series.

The England selectors will on Saturday name 22 players on duty for the first Test. It is likely they will announce a main squad of 15 with seven on standby.

Neither Moeen Ali nor Jonny Bairstow pushed their claims for a Test recall in the practice match and could be left out of the 22, which would leave them to concentrate on preparing for the one-day series against Ireland due to start straight after the three Tests against West Indies.

Bairstow made 11 and 39 and was promoted to open for Team Stokes in a bid to have more time at the crease, but did not land the big score that would have put pressure on Joe Denly’s position in the top order.

Denly himself only made one in the second innings while youngsters James Bracey (85 and 22) and Dan Lawrence (58 and 6) took their chance to make an impression but without Joe Root in the top four England will be reluctant to pick a debutant, especially against such a strong West Indies attack.

England have found it a strange experience playing at an eerily quiet Ageas Bowl over the past three days. The players have asked for music to be played next week between overs and for an MC announcer to call out names, just to give it more of a feel of a normal international match.

Cricket Nerd REFERRAL (article)
Cricket Nerd REFERRAL (article)

Mark Wood tried his best to raise the atmosphere by singing Jerusalem as the teams walked out on the field in the morning and Ollie Pope, who warmed up for the Test series with a typically accomplished 55 on Saturday before Team Stokes and Team Buttler called it a draw, says the players will be able to lift themselves.

“It has been quiet, especially at a ground like this where there is nothing going on outside the ground and no real noise out there, but that doesn't change the quality of the cricket,” he said.

“Whether we are going to play a bit of music out of the speakers I'm not sure but we can find ways of creating our own atmosphere I'm sure. We've got to find a way to do that when we get on top or when we need a bit of energy.”

The intensity of Test cricket will not be provided by piped music but by the challenge of facing Shannon Gabriel, who has been added to the West Indies main squad, and Kemar Roach. England have been warned they face the strongest West Indies attack for decades and will have to start without their captain and best batsman. It promises to be a lively return on Wednesday even if in silence.