CSA announced two cases of Covid-19 in their Test squad on Friday soon after adding three players for the series against Sri Lanka. The CSA release confirming the extra resources made no mention of the pandemic, but there can be little doubt the move was forced by concerns about the growing grip the virus is taking on the game in the country.
NEW FACES
As Covid climbs, South Africa add three players to Test squad
Van Tonder is the first-class competition's leading run-scorer with 604 from 10 innings this season © Getty
Another release three hours later said the positives were returned from tests conducted on Wednesday and Thursday. "The players will no longer form part of the Test team and will observe the Covid-19 protocols, including isolating with immediate effect," the second release said.
"CSA's medical team will monitor them to ensure their health and well-being. CSA can confirm that no other players in the currently named squad were deemed close contacts after contact tracing procedures were conducted." The infected players were not named.
Ten members of the squad were