WI Coach Simmons in self-isolation after attending funeral

Alzarri Joseph has downplayed the significance of the news that West Indies head coach Phil Simmons is self-isolating in his Old Trafford hotel room as a health precaution.

Simmons left the West Indies’ bubble to attend a funeral on Friday, and has been self-isolating since then in his room on-site. He will watch the squad’s second intra-squad warm-up game from his balcony this week, and will be permitted to join back up with the group on Thursday if he returns two negative COVID-19 tests.

That means that the burden will fall on assistant coaches Roddy Estwick and Rayon Griffith ahead of the four-day, first-class fixture that starts on Monday, with Floyd Reifer helping out as batting coach.

A CWI spokesperson confirmed that Simmons “is in self-isolation currently” on Saturday after the Daily Mail broke the story, but Joseph said that it would not present the team with any major problems.

“That doesn’t really disrupt our preparations,” he said. “We have our jobs to do – we have our preparation to keep going with. We have a very big coaching staff here that are very supportive of each other, so that’s not really a problem for anyone.” (ESPNCricinfo)