Last update on. From the section Cricket
India won the fourth Test with 157 runs to lead the 2-1 series.
After some backroom staff members tested positive for Covid-19, the fifth England-India Test at Emirates Old Trafford had to be cancelled.
India was unable to send a team due to fears of more cases.
The England and Wales Cricket Board stated that they were sorry for the news.
"We are aware that it will cause great disappointment and inconvenience for many."
Initial ECB statements stated that India, which led the series 2-1 had lost the final Test. The series was then drawn 2-2. Since then, the statement has been changed to read: "India regrettably cannot field a team."
The final outcome is not clear.
Two hours before the Test was scheduled to begin at Emirates Old Trafford, it was cancelled.
Ravi Shastri, the head coach, was positive for HIV during India's fourth Test victory. This forced Bharat Arun (bowling coach), Ramakrishnan Sridhar (fielding coach) and Nitin Pate (physiotherapist) to isolate.
On Thursday, another member of the backroom staff was positive.
India cancelled Thursday's training session. However, a second round of testing revealed no positive results from players. It was decided that the Test would proceed as planned.
The announcement to cancel the match came just two hours before the match was scheduled to start at 11:00 BST on Friday.
Even though England has rescheduled all of their domestic fixtures for 2020, this is the first international home men's game to be cancelled since the outbreak.
Three one-day internationals between England and South Africa were postponed by the United Kingdom in December due to fears of the coronavirus.
The Indian Premier League will resume play on September 19th, complicating any attempt to reschedule Test 5.
The tournament was originally held in India but was delayed in May. It now begins in the United Arab Emirates.
Analysis: "The IPL would have a lot of to do this"
Jonathan Agnew, BBC cricket correspondent
This is quite strange, as all the players passed their PCR tests last night. We thought the match would proceed so we went to bed.
I believe the IPL would be a major factor in this. It will begin in 10 days. They have huge contacts. The IPL is worth 300m for the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
They want to protect their product, and players want to protect their contracts. The ECB will be hit with a 20 million dollar bill. One would assume that there would be negotiations with the BCCI.
It's a shame that Covid interfered with such a great series.
