Simmons self-isolating himself after attending a funeral in England
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|| Desk Report ||
West Indies head coach Phil Simmons is in self-isolation after leaving the family bubble over the coming days at their Manchester base.
Simmons , 57, attended a funeral on Friday for which he must spend a minimum of five days away from the rest of the group as part of the team’s Covid-19 protocols.
He had been tested negative on both occasions for coronavirus at the start and end of that period before resuming what have become normal activities for the West Indies squad over the past three weeks in England.
That means that the Caribbean team will miss the presence of their head coach, in the build up to the first Test against England that will start at Southampton on July 8.
Having said that, he will be able to assess the warm-up matches from his hotel balcony, whose rooms overlook the pitch at Rose Bowl. The Windies team would look to communicate through a walkie-talkie till then.
West Indies have planned for him to communicate with the rest of the coaching staff via walkie-talkie until the latter stages of the contest. In the event of two negative tests, he is scheduled to return to the team environment ahead of the final day of the fixture.
However, Pakistan, England’s second opponents of the 2020 biosecure summer, are scheduled to land in London on Sunday, a week ahead of originally planned tour due to the concerns about the spread of the lethal virus in their homeland - as first revealed by Sportsmail earlier this month.
Pakistan were rocked when 10 of their 29 selected players tested positive for Covid-19 this week but those that were clear will head to Worcestershire’s New Road for a 14-day isolation period before transferring to Derby on July 13.
