New Delhi: Australia seam bowler Kane Richardson will miss the ODI series opener against New Zealand in Sydney after he was quarantined post being tested for coronavirus (COVID-19).

Kane Richardson reported a sore throat on the eve of the first ODI and the Australian cricket team’s medical staff took no chance and decided to test him for COVID-19, the results for which are still awaited. With Richardson out of the first ODI, seamer Sean Abbott has been called up to fill in his spot and join the squad as cover.

“Our medical staff are treating this a typical throat infection but we are following Australian Government protocols that require us to keep Kane away from other members of the squad and perform the appropriate tests given he has returned from international travel in the last 14 days,” cricket.com.au quoted a Cricket Australia spokesperson as saying.

Earlier in the day, Cricket Australia had announced that the ODI series between Australia and New Zealand will be played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak. The first ODI will be played later today.

The coronavirus disease was first detected in Wuhan in China's Hubei province, in late December, and has since spread worldwide.

More than 127,000 people have been infected with COVID-19, with over 4,700 having died and 68,000 recovered.