Peter Handscomb tests COVID-19 positive; misses last round of County Championship
Middlesex skipper Peter Handscomb has been ruled out of the current round of the County Championship, clash against Leicestershire after he tested positive for COVID-19. Handscomb, earlier this season had suffered a terrible dip in form, failing to pass 50 in 13 innings for Middlesex.
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 The 30-year-old, who was supposed to lead the side, has been replaced by Tim Murtagh as the skipper of the side.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.
Peter Handscomb is missing the current round of County Championship matches having tested positive for Covid-19#LVCountyChamp
— Andrew McGlashan (@andymcg_cricket) July 12, 2021
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.