Kent forced to name makeshift squad after Blast side enter isolation

Every member of the team that beat Surrey on Friday night has been deemed a close contact of an unnamed Kent player who has since tested positive for Covid-19

Preparations for Kent’s LV= County Championship game with Sussex were thrown into chaos on Sunday morning, after a positive Covid-19 test forced 14 members of the hosts’ first-team squad into isolation.

An unidentified member of the Kent Spitfires T20 Blast side that beat Surrey on Friday night tested positive on Saturday and as his team mates were all identified as close contacts, club officials were left scrambling to assemble a scratch squad in time for Sunday’s game. The same will be necessary for Kent's final two T20 Blast fixtures against Middlesex and Sussex.

Director of cricket Paul Downton and head coach Matt Walker worked through the night to assemble a mixture of red-ball specialists and second-teamers, and the start was delayed until midday to allow multiple players to be registered in time. 

Heino Kuhn was named captain of an eleven that included first-teamers Harry Podmore, Matt Quinn, Nathan Gilchrist and Marcus O’Riordan. 

Kent chief executive Simon Storey said: “With the emergence of the Delta variant and recent release in lock down restrictions, the club has been conscious of the increased possibility of an outbreak.

“Overnight, the club has worked swiftly to identify a replacement squad that will be ready to take on Sussex in the much-anticipated Canterbury Cricket Week, and will also be preparing for the final two matches of the group stages of the Vitality Blast, with a quarter-final berth already secured.”

Kent beat Surrey by nine wickets at the Kia Oval on Friday night, with a Daniel Bell-Drummond half century following a fine bowling display. As well as Bell-Drummond, it means that Joe Denly, Ollie Robinson, Jack Leaning, Jordan Cox, Alex Blake, Darren Stevens, Adam Milne, Qais Ahmad, Matt Milnes and Fred Klaassen will miss out.

England’s ODI squad suffered a similar fate after an outbreak among the squad and support staff at the end of the three-match series against Sri Lanka. An emergency replacement squad was then named for the ongoing series against Pakistan, in which the hosts hold an unassailable lead after two games.