Jacques Kallis’s involvement in England’s Test tour of Sri Lanka is in jeopardy because of the variant strain of Covid in his homeland of South Africa, states the Daily Mail.

Kallis, 45, has been recruited as a batting consultant for next month’s two-match series in Galle but is likely to need governmental exemption to fulfil his role, given the 14-day quarantine period required for people arriving in the UK from that part of the world.

Permission for Kallis to travel directly from South Africa is only the remotest of possibilities, although the ECB is yet to be informed of the Sri Lankan government’s view on their own team returning home from their ongoing series against the Proteas — which started in Pretoria on Saturday — on 7 January. That is just a week before the first Test against Joe Root’s side.

Dhananjaya de Silva, Rajitha ruled out of England Test series