Australia’s white-ball tour of the West Indies looks set to be cut short after the second ODI was abruptly suspended after a member of the bio-secure bubble tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday morning (AEST).
As the two teams made their final preparations at Kensington Oval, the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
In dramatic scenes in Barbados, the toss had already been completed when news of the positive result broke.
The two teams, match officials and broadcast teams have been living in a bubble throughout the tour, which has seen five T20s and one ODI already completed.
Cricket West Indies CEO Johnny Grave confirmed the positive test came from a non-playing member of the West Indies staff.
"There was confirmed today by a non-playing member of the West Indies staff," Grave said in a statement.
"This decision was taken after the toss at Kensington Oval once a result was known and confirmed by the Ministry of Health officials.
"The established COVID-19 protocols stipulate now that all members of both teams the match officials and all the TV crew will return immediately to the team hotel.
"Everyone will be retested later today. In the meantime, everyone will have to remain in isolation in their rooms until those PCR test results are confirmed.
"We'll make a further decision when the match can be replayed at a later date once all the test results are back in which will hopefully be by tomorrow morning."
A third and final ODI in the series is scheduled for Sunday, though that now remains up in the air.
It's been confirmed that all but two of the Australian touring party had been fully vaccinated prior to heading to the Caribbean and the remaining two received their jabs during the tour.
The drama in Barbados could also impact Australia’s upcoming tour of Bangladesh.
Cricket Australia on Thursday confirmed the touring party would travel straight to Bangladesh from Barbados to play five T20Is at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka from August 3rd to August 9th.
