Under-fire England head coach Chris Silverwood has tested positive for COVID-19 while quarantining here with his family but he is expected to join the team ahead of the fifth Ashes Test in Hobart.
Silverwood was due to miss the fourth Test against England starting in Sydney on Wednesday after he was forced into isolation when a family member tested positive for COVID-19.
"Silverwood has been isolating in Melbourne since December 30 following a positive test from one of his family members. He will remain in isolation until January 8," the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement according to Skysports.
The ECB said Silverwood is asymptomatic and is fully vaccinated.
"He is expected to return to the England party in Hobart ahead of the fifth Ashes Test."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday slammed the previous regimes for not encouraging the youth of the country in the field of sports, saying that he wishes that future generations will not shy away in opting to pursue sports as a career.
"Earlier governments did not give importance to this potential of the youth in the field of sports. For the development of sports in the country, it is necessary that our youth should have faith in sports and should be encouraged to take up sports as their profession," PM Modi said after laying the foundation stone of Major Dhyanchand State Sports University in Meerut.
"This is my resolve and my dream too! I want our youth to see a career in sports just like other professions," he added.

Seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi remains back home in Argentina after being among four players in the Paris Saint-Germain squad to have tested positive for the coronavirus ahead of the team's French Cup game on Monday night.
PSG added that one staff member also had COVID-19 in a statement on Saturday night. None of them were named at that point, but in a further statement on the team's medical news Sunday the club named Messi, left back Juan Bernat, backup goalie Sergio Rico and 19-year-old midfielder Nathan Bitumazala.
PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino is uncertain when Messi will be able to return to France, or whether he can recover in time to play away to Lyon in the league next Sunday.

England Test captain Joe Root has insisted that he is the right person to lead the team after a 146-run defeat in Hobart sealed a 4-0 series defeat for them in the Ashes.
Root's five-year reign as skipper was called into question as the tour lurched from one heavy defeat to another one but the 31-year-old batsman made it clear he wanted to stay in the job.
"I'd love the opportunity to take this team forward and to turn things round," he told reporters.
At the moment, we're going through a real tough stage as a group of players.

Australian Open:

Defending champion Naomi Osaka overcame an unexpectedly stiff challenge from Colombian Camila Osorio to reach the second round of the Australian Open 6-3 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena on Monday.
The Japanese former world number one looked all business as she raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening set but a first hold of serve invigorated Osorio, who then started chasing down everything Osaka threw at her.
Osaka needed to save two break points to hold serve for the first set and faced two more in the second stanza before overpowering the inexperienced world number 50 with her aggressive shots from the baseline.

Pat Cummins's gesture towards Usman Khawaja after Ashes victory wins hearts:
Australia captain Pat Cummins has been lauded for his leadership qualities after a video of him asking his team mates to stop spraying champagne to allow batsman Usman Khawaja take part in the celebrations of the team winning the Ashes went viral.
Khawaja, the first Muslim cricketer for Australia and who made a triumphant comeback to Test cricket by scoring two centuries in the fourth match, stepped aside to avoid being sprayed with alcohol in keeping with his religious beliefs when the team was celebrating their Ashes win on the dais in Hobart.
Cummins quickly noticed and asked his team mates to put aside the bottles and gestured for Khawaja to rejoin them on the dais.

SA vs IND:
South Africa will gain a "hell of lot of confidence" if they manage to beat India in the upcoming three-match ODI series in home conditions, feels Proteas white-ball skipper Temba Bavuma. The last time India came to South Africa in 2018, they won the six-match series 5-1. It was also their first-ever ODI series win in the Rainbow Nation.
"We will have to get things right in the next ODI series against India. I'm not too worried about what happened in that 2018 series. I'm more concerned about establishing our own style of play and implementing our strategy to good effect.

"Inspiration For Young Cricketers":
Virat Kohli left the cricketing world in shock on Saturday after he announced that he was quitting India captaincy in the Test format. The star batter made the announcement on social media, a day after India lost the three-match series against South Africa 1-2. Former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir took to Twitter to congratulate Virat Kohli for his outstanding stint as India Test captain. Amir said that Virat Kohli is a "true leader" and an "inspiration for young cricketers".
@imVkohli brother for me u are a true leader of upcoming generation in cricket because u are inspiration for young Cricketers. keep rocking on and of the field," wrote Amir on Twitter.

Watch:
Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse had the Molineux Stadium on its feet when he executed an inch-perfect free-kick against Wolves in a Premier League encounter on Saturday. Ward-Prowse's technical masterclass helped him bury the ball into the top right corner of the goal. The stunning goal was hardly celebrated by the scorer as the entire team ran towards the halfway line for the game to restart in order to save time. However, despite this wonder strike, Southampton went down 1-3 as Adam Traore scored in injury-time to seal the three points for the home team.
The video of the free-kick goal was shared by the Southampton FC's Instagram handle with a caption that celebrated Ward-Prowse's genius.

India Open:

NEW DELHI: India's Lakshya Sen secured his maiden Super 500 title by winning the Yonex-Sunrise India Open with a stunning straight-game victory over reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the men's singles final here on Sunday.
It was after Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty became the first team from the country to win India's flagship tournament after toppling three-time world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.
The 20-year-old Sen, who had claimed his maiden world championships medal with a bronze in Spain last month, produced a fine performance to outshine the fifth seeded shuttler 24-22 21-17 in the summit clash that lasted 54 minutes.
Satwik and Chirag showed nerves of steel as the duo saved five game points to overcome the world No. 2 Indonesian pair 21-16 26-24 in 43 minutes.