Shane Warne, London Spirit's head coach, and another unnamed member of the management team have gone into isolation after returning positive Covid-19 tests.
Warne reported feeling unwell on Sunday morning, ahead of Spirit's game against Southern Brave at Lord's. A lateral flow test was positive and he is now awaiting the result of a PCR test. As yet, none of the Spirit playing squad has been affected.
Warne is the second head coach in the men's competition to test positive for Covid in the first 10 days of the Hundred. Andy Flower, the Trent Rockets head coach, returned a positive test last weekend and has missed his side's last three fixtures, with Paul Franks stepping into the role. Steven Mullaney, who was deemed a close contact of Flower's, is the only player in the competition to have been forced to self-isolate as things stand.
Warne's Spirit team were winless in their first three Hundred games, with two defeats and a no-result, and lost their third game of the tournament against Southern Brave on Sunday night by four runs after making a bright start to their run chase. David Ripley, the Northamptonshire head coach and one of the Spirit's assistants, was acting as head coach in Warne's absence.
"I wouldn't say it was that disruptive," Eoin Morgan's the Spirit's captain, said of Warne's absence. "As a coach actually on gameday, there are not a lot of things that you can do. You've prepped the team, the side is announced, so everyone is clear in exactly what they need to do and how they need to do it. He was around all day yesterday [Saturday] but obviously we were all social-distancing, so I'd say not a big one at all."
Warne confirmed on Monday that he was suffering mild symptoms and that he had been double-vaccinated against the virus.
"Thank u for all the get well messages-they really mean a lot," he tweeted. "I've been double vaccinated so the Covid symptoms are mild, hopefully I will be up & about soon. Still shattered about our second embarrassing loss at Lords last night as we've just gifted 2 wins away [sic]."