Australian batsman Matt Renshaw has tested positive in a rapid antigen test (RAT) after reporting feeling unwell just before the game on the first day of New Year’s testing in Sydney. Nearly his first Test appearance for Australia in five years, the 26-year-old will remain in the game, but Australia have said he will be replaced in the second half of the game in case he needs a Covid understudy. Peter He added Handscombe as a second-half substitute.
Renshaw reported that after 45 minutes from the toss he hit the net for SCG and prepared for his comeback, but felt unwell as the rest of the Australian team were practicing. He was also separated from the rest of the team during the national anthem, though the results of his tests had yet to be announced at that point.
When Australia started batting, Renshaw was sitting in a plastic chair by the boundary line just a few yards from the substitutes. If a player is diagnosed with Covid, the team can receive a similar replacement if symptoms show up in-game.
By the way, the night before the test, captain Pat Cummins addressed the Covid issue and expressed surprise that his team seemed to have escaped the dreaded virus over the summer.
“Thinking about it now, I still don’t understand why the team didn’t have Covid,” Cummins said on Tuesday.