Peter Handscomb tests COVID-19 positive; misses last round of County Championship

Australian middle-order batsman Peter Handscomb’s County season has hit a rough patch, after he was tested positive for COVID-19, which subsequently ruled him out of action in the county’s last fixture of the season, against Leicestershire. The 30-year-old, who was supposed to lead the side, has been replaced by Tim Murtagh as the skipper of the side. 

Earlier this season, the right-handed batsman had suffered a terrible dip in form, failing to cross the 50-run mark in 13 of his innings for Middlesex after starting the season with a duck. Handscomb becomes the second instance of Australians being affected by the virus after Glamorgan’s Australia duo - Michael Neser and Marnus Labuschagne - were left in isolation for being close to a positive case. 

While Labuschange returned in Glamorgan’s second XI, scoring a scintillating 276 and returning with figures of 4/37 with the ball in two innings. However, Handscomb becomes the latest of victims of the virus, a day after Kent were forced to revamp their entire squad in the wake of a positive case in the camp.

England, earlier too employed the same approach, swapping their entire squad with a new one, led by Ben Stokes, which took a 2-0 lead against Pakistan in the three-match ODI series.