SL vs ENG: Moeen Ali joins England’s bubble after clearing Covid Tests
Moeen Ali entered England’s dressing room on Day Three of the ongoing Test match against Sri Lanka after he cleared two negative covid tests and will join his teammates, two weeks after their arrival in Sri Lanka.
The all rounder tested positive for the coronavirus with mild symptoms upon his arrival in the country. He was originally expected to be in quarantine for ten days but that period was extended by three days over concerns of a new strain of the UK virus. Moeen Ali is unlikely to play in the second Test given his lack of match practice.
“It’s great to have Mo back,” said Sam Curran after stumps on Day 3. “When we walked into the changing room [at tea] we saw Mo and there were smiles on everyone’s faces. He’s obviously had a really tough couple of weeks and no one wants to get into the situation he was in. Thankfully he got through that OK. We’re all really excited to have him back in the group to play cricket again, because we all know what an awesome player he is, and to be around,” he added.
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“The guys are really happy. Hopefully it doesn’t happen to anyone else, because no one wants to have players leaving the group and isolating for a couple of weeks.”
Moeen Ali’s absence was felt on Day three when the pitch flattened and the Sri Lankan batsman hung around for almost an entire day. Dom Bess and Jack Leach could not do much to penetrate inside Sri Lanka’s batting lineup.
“Look at our spinners and some of the seamers as well – no one’s really played much cricket. You’d expect a bit of rustiness. The buildup was what it was. We had no complaints – [Joe] Rooty was very clear that we needed to hit the ground running which we luckily did on day one,” Curran added.