Pakistan to fly to UK on Sunday as plans for Test series against England continue

The trip was briefly thrown in doubt when 10 Pakistani players and one member of the backroom team tested positive for Covid-19 earlier in the week, but PCB chief executive Wasim Khan has remained adamant that the tour should still go ahead

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Pakistan's players and support staff will travel to the UK on Sunday as planned, as preparations continue for the proposed Test series against England in August.

The trip was briefly thrown in doubt when 10 Pakistani players and one member of the backroom team tested positive for Covid-19 earlier in the week, but PCB chief executive Wasim Khan has remained adamant that the tour should still go ahead.

And those members of the touring party who have twice tested negative for the coronavirus will now fly out of Lahore on Sunday.

Once Pakistan have arrived in the UK, they will undergo a 14-day quarantine period at Blackfinch New Road in Worcester, where a hotel is in close proximity to the ground facilities.

That isolation period will expire on July 13, when the group will transfer to Derbyshire's The Incora County Ground for a further training camp, including two internal four-day warm-up matches.

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Those players who have previously tested positive for Covid-19 must serve a period of self-isolation in Pakistan and, subject to two further negative tests, will fly out to join their team-mates.

Pakistan had named a 29-man squad for the trip initially, prior to the swathe of positive results earlier in the week. The PCB are expected to announce on Saturday the names of the players and support staff who will fly to the UK.

The governing body has previously stressed that many of those who tested positive are much more likely to be considered for selection in the white-ball element of the tour - three T20Is in late August and early September - rather than the Tests and therefore have additional time to join the rest of the party.

The ECB has yet to confirm the locations and dates of the Tests or T20Is. The Ageas Bowl in Southampton and Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester have been turned into bio-secure "bubble" venues for the three-Test series against West Indies, which is due to begin on July 8.

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