Cricket South Africa reveals seven positive coronavirus cases

Johannesburg:Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Monday revealed seven positive cases for novel coronavirus after mass testing was conducted within the organisation. 

Over 100 tests were conducted by CSA throughout the country that included affiliate staff as well as some of the country's contracted professional players, including the franchise training squads that had been assembled after government announced that in Level 3 of the nationwide lockdown, non-contact sport could resume. 

CSA's acting CEO Jacques Faul told Sport24 "We were definitely going to have people testing positive. "Having conducted over 100 tests, the number of seven is actually quite low."

It is known how many, if any, of the positive results came from players."Our medical ethical protocol does not allow us to share info of people that have tested positive," Faul said. 

Among cricketers who have tested positive are former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza and ex-Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi and South Africa, Solo Nqweni, a first-class cricketer had tested positive for the novel coronavirus last month. 

South Africa looked set to resume cricket with the CSA announcing the launch of an innovative competition titled '3TCricket', competition, Solidarity Cup, where three teams were to play in a single match at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

However, the CSA then indefinitely postponed the tournament, scheduled for a June 27 start, saying that more work is needed to stage it.(UNI)