Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Monday confirmed that seven positive cases have been found after mass coronavirus testing was conducted within the organisation.

CSA has conducted over 100 tests throughout the country on affiliate staff and some of the contracted professional players, including the franchise training squads that had been assembled after the government announced that non-contact sport could resume in Level 3 of the nationwide lockdown.

“We were definitely going to have people testing positive,” CSA’s acting CEO Jacques Faul confirmed to ‘Sport24’. “Having conducted over 100 tests, the number of seven is actually quite low.

“Our medical ethical protocol does not allow us to share info that could ID people that have tested positive,” Faul said.

Former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza was diagnosed with COVID-19 two days back. Bangladesh daily Dhaka Tribune confirmed the news quoting a source.

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi also revealed recently that he had tested positive for coronavirus.

Earlier, Cricket South Africa had said they will try a new format that will see three teams compete in a single 36-over match.

In their bid to restart the game amid the pandemic, they will start with the Solidarity Cup at SuperSport Park in Centurion on June 27.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought the entire world to a standstill and the sporting arena is no exception. Most of the high profile tournaments including the Olympics stand postponed.

Even the biggest cricketing spectacle on the planet, the Indian Premier League (IPL), stands suspended indefinitely owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Premier League have recently become the high-profile sporting events to resume after almost a three month period with almost no sporting activity.

A few cricketing boards around the world have only recently granted permission to their players to resume training.

The move to restart sporting leagues and tournaments comes after governments are beginning to realise that the coronavirus is here to stay for quite some time and sports among other businesses will need to find a way to co-exist with it.

The virus has already infected more than 8.5 million people around the world while claiming over 450 thousand lives. There is still no sure shot treatment of the disease and social-distancing, self-isolation and maintenance of basic hand hygiene remain the only potent weapons of protecting oneself from contracting the infection.

(With inputs from IANS)