Dom Sibley becomes 11th England player taken ill on South Africa tour

The opener is now a doubt for Friday's second Test in Cape Town, though Chris Woakes and Jack Leach have now left quarantine

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Dom Sibley's place in the England XI for the second Test in South Africa is in doubt after the opener has become the 11th member of the touring squad to be taken ill since the start of the tour.

A virus travelling around the England camp had already ruled Chris Woakes, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope and Mark Wood from the 107-run defeat in Centurion, while Jos Buttler and Joe Root were both briefly sidelined with the illness on the third day at SuperSport Park as South Africa extended their first innings lead to a comfortable margin.

Woakes and Leach have now joined Pope in being released from their quarantine at the team hotel, though the makeup of England's final XI in Cape Town appears to remain largely dependent on which players are fit to play a full five-day game.

Ahead of the Centurion Test, England's three-day tour clash with South Africa A in Benoni was downgraded from first-class status in the hope of allowing game time later on for Joe Denly, Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad in case of their recovery.

Ben Stokes also missed the majority of the opening day of the first Test while struggling with dehydration, having previously missed training opportunities ahead of the game while attending to his hospitalised father.

England's ill-eleven on tour so far
Dom Sibley, Joe Denly, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Jack Leach, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood

Should Sibley's illness rule him out of the next game, Zak Crawley would be a likely candidate to partner Rory Burns at the top of the order when the series moves to Cape Town on Friday, though the Kent batsman played his one previous Test during last month's trip to New Zealand at No.6 after Jos Buttler went down with a back injury.

England had previously called up Somerset bowlers Dom Bess and Craig Overton as emergency cover for a squad already featuring 17 names due to lingering fitness concerns ahead of the tour, and coach Chris Silverwood previously confirmed the pair would travel with the side to the Newlands ground when they depart Centurion on Tuesday.

Off-spinner Bess is understood to be a strong contender to come into the final XI, having leapfrogged uncapped Lancashire leg-spinner Matt Parkinson in the thoughts of Silverwood and Root in their post-match comments.

England entered the Centurion Test again without a specialist spin bowler in their side, with Root and Denly briefly sharing part-time duties as England's seamers were outshone by their Protea counterparts.

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