Aussie pacer Kane Richardson quarantined as coronavirus test results awaited

Australia pacer Kane Richardson has been quarantined after being tested for coronavirus (COVID-19) and will miss the first Australia vs New Zealand ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. Richardson reported a sore throat on the eve of the first ODI and the Australian cricket team's medical staff took no chance and decided to test him for COVID-19, the results for which are still awaited.

With Richardson out of the first ODI, pacer Sean Abbott has been called up to join the squad as cover.

"Our medical staff are treating this a typical throat infection but we are following Australian Government protocols that require us to keep Kane away from other members of the squad and perform the appropriate tests given he has returned from international travel in the last 14 days," cricket.com.au quoted a Cricket Australia spokesperson as saying.

"Once we receive the results of the tests and Kane recovers in the next few days we expect he will re-join the team. We will not be making further comment until something changes," he added.

Earlier in the day, Cricket Australia had announced that the ODI series between Australia and New Zealand will be played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak. The fans who had bought tickets will be refunded.

The coronavirus disease was first detected in Wuhan in China's Hubei province, in late December, and has since spread worldwide.

It has had a severe impact on sporting events around the globe. BCCI has decided to hold the remaining two matches of India vs South Africa series behind closed doors in Lucknow and in Kolkata. The final day of the Ranji Trophy final will also go the same way.

PCB late on Thursday announced that the remaining matches of PSL will take place behind closed doors.

More than 134,000 people have been infected with COVID-19, with over 4,700 having died and 68,000 recovered.

About 600 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the United Kingdom with eight fatalities, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.

On Wednesday, World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the COVID-19 outbreak could be characterised as a pandemic.

In India, the current number of infected people stand at 74.