Moeen Ali tests COVID positive as England arrive in SL, Woakes deemed as 'close contact'

In a big jolt to England's squad touring Sri Lanka, ace all-rounder Moeen Ali has contracted the novel Coronavirus, the English Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Monday. Following the results of the PCR tests on arrival of the England team on Monday, the ECB confirmed that Moeen Ali has tested positive and will observe a period of 10-days isolation. The ECB added that Chris Woakes has also been deemed as a possible 'close contact' of Ali, and hence, the speedster will also observe seld-isolation. 

The English team will be tested for COVID-19 again on Tuesday morning. The visitors are slated to begin training on Wednesday after the test results come. 

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England's tour of Sri Lanka

The English team is on a tour of the 'Emerald Island' for a two-match Test series that will be played between January 14-26, 2021. The Test series will be a part of the ongoing edition of the ICC World Test Championship (2019-21). The Test series was originally scheduled to be held in March 2020 but had to be postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic that had brought all the cricketing as well as sporting events to a standstill back then. 

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In December 2020, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) officially confirmed the availability of their players for an away Test tour and it was then revealed that both the Tests would be played at Galle. 
The first Test will be played between January 14-18 with the second and final Test match scheduled to take place between January 22-26. 

England's entire squad for the upcoming two-match Test series:

Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali,  James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dom Sibley, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

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