England Women support staff member tests positive for Covid-19

Additional testing and contact tracing has taken place on the back of the news, with no further positive cases reported

England's Women's Ashes preparations have been hit after a member of support staff tested positive for Covid-19.

The staff member has been in isolation since then – in accordance with state guidelines – and will remain in Canberra, where the squad is currently based for its pre-Ashes preparations, when Heather Knight's side travel to Adelaide to begin the series with the T20I leg of the tour at the Adelaide Oval. Before then, England and England A will face one another in two T20 warmup matches over the weekend.

The positive test came in the second round of scheduled PCR tests. Additional testing and contact tracing has taken place on the back of the news, with no further positive cases reported.

England's players and staff had been instructed to keep any socialising outdoors in order to minimise the spread of any positive cases.

Another batch of routine PCR tests will be undertaken ahead of the team's flight to Adelaide on January 17.

Those on the tour have effectively been safe-living in relative isolation since around Christmas time in order to stay clear of the virus ahead of departure on January 7.

The series was initially due to begin on January 27 but was shifted forward a week in order to allow England and Australia to compete the 10-day quarantine period required when entering New Zealand ahead of the World Cup, which begins in March.