Australia bowler Kane Richardson tests negative for coronavirus after being quarantined following South Africa tour

The 29-year-old complained of a sore throat and was tested for COVID-19 but was subsequently released to re-join his teammates

• English cricketing summer faces disruption
• Australia women's tour of South Africa postponed

Kane Richardson, the Australia seamer, has tested negative for coronavirus after complaining of a sore throat.

The 29-year-old was quarantined due to the discomfort after returning from the one-day international tour of South Africa.

Australia Government protocols dictated that Richardson had to be kept away from teammates until the appropriate tests were carried out, having recently returned from international travel.

But after being given the all-clear, the right-armer was released and joined-up with his Australia teammates at the Sydney Cricket Ground for the first ODI against New Zealand.

He was temporarily replaced by Sean Abbott in the squad, though neither player was called upon by Justin Langer.

Australia claimed a 71-run victory to go 1-0 up in the series in a match played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which has been labelled by a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation.

Fans will be locked out of the entire series, which continues in Sydney on Sunday before heading to Hobart next week.

The final round Sheffield Shield matches in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne are all set to go ahead, however. The final is scheduled for March 27.

Australia's women will not travel to South Africa for their six-match tour which was due to get underway on March 22 but no decision has been taken on the men's three-match T20 series in New Zealand later this month.