London: England was forced to select a completely new group of players and management on Tuesday for the one-day international series against Pakistan after the Coronavirus infected three players and four members of staff.
The initially selected squad went into isolation following the results of tests taken on Monday, a day after the team's last ODI against Sri Lanka in Bristol. The names of those who tested positive have not been disclosed. The remainder of the group were identified as close contacts.
The three ODIs and three Twenty20s against Pakistan, starting on Thursday with the first ODI in Cardiff, were still going ahead and at the same venues.
Ashley Giles, director of England's men's cricket, said he was confident there had not been a breach of Coronavirus protocols in the squad but that it was a natural consequence of restrictions being slightly eased around the squad in line with general society, despite cases rising in England because of the delta variant.
The players, for example, have been staying in shared hotels as opposed to living in strict bio-secure bubbles like last summer.
"Given this variant, which is clearly more infectious, the risks of us catching an infection was going to go up, Giles said on a video call.
"It's a reminder of what this can do a team, and a sports team in particular, right now when we are sort of living at a different rate to society. We are almost misaligned, or at odds, with how society is operating. And that is particularly difficult when you know one case can shut you down, let alone seven."
England's revised, hastily assembled ODI squad includes nine new caps and will be captained for the first time by Ben Stokes and coached by Chris Silverwood, who had been due to take some time off during the white-ball series but has been pressed back into action.
After 10 days of isolation, the initial squad will be back in time to play the T20 series, which starts on July 16.