Things have gone from bad to worse for Australia at the Twenty20 World Cup, and could be forced to field a COVID-positive player in Friday's must-win clash against England at the MCG.
After already losing spinner Adam Zampa to COVID-19 for the seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka on Wednesday, Australia have been hit again, this time seeing wicketkeeper Matthew Wade test positive.
But while Australia were able to replace Zampa with Ashton Agar, the World Cup hosts don't have a spare glovement for their own tournament.
Back-up wicketkeeper Josh Inglis was ruled out of the tournament earlier this month after suffering an injury to his hand on the eve of the tournament.
And rather than replace Inglis with another wicketkeeper before the October 15 deadline passed, Australia opted to bring in all-rounder Cameron Green, leaving them short of a backup to Wade.
Australia are not able to replace Wade, though, with tournament regulations stating Wade must be completely withdrawn from the squad to be eligible to bring in a new player.
In Wade's absence, all-rounder Glenn Maxwell was filmed wicketkeeping in training on Thursday, while David Warner was stated to be the back-up to Wade as a worst case scenario.
Tournament regulations however will allow Wade to play on Friday, despite being COVID-positive, provided he uses a different changing facility to the rest of the team.
Friday wouldn't be the first time Australia has been forced to field a COVID-positive player either.
At the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Australia's Tahlia McGrath took the field in a facemask, as her team defeated India to win the gold medal.
Friday's game looms as must-win for both Australia and England - who have both already suffered one defeat to start the tournament.
Australia were handed an 89-run defeat to the Blackcaps in their opening match, while England were stunned in defeat to Ireland on Wednesday.
