The English Cricket Board has confirmed that the two unconfirmed Covid-19 cases from their travelling squad in South Africa were false positives.

The ECB released a statement on Tuesday, stating further testing on these two individuals returned negative results and that they have been allowed to rejoin their squad members ahead of their departure back to the UK on Thursday.

‘Following further testing and analysis, in the opinion of the independent virologists based in Cape Town and London, the two individuals are not infected, and do not pose any risk of passing on the infection to the rest of the party,’ read a statement from the ECB.

The ODI series between the Proteas and England was postponed on Monday, following the unconfirmed cases and after a South African player tested positive ahead of last Friday’s opening clash. Afterwards, two staff members of the Vineyard Hotel were also infected over the weekend.

READ: England ODI series called off

Cricket South Africa and the ECB intend to reschedule this three-match series for a later date as part of the ICC’s Super League.

But, according to a report in the Daily Maverick, the English players were allowed to play rounds of golf during their time in the team’s bio-bubble in Cape Town and breached further Covid-19 regulations by undergoing an unscheduled practice session at Newlands.

The report also suggests there was a lengthy meeting between the ECB and its players on Monday, where the England squad opted against taking the field for the match against the Proteas, despite the ECB instructing them to do so.

In light of the scare of the two unconfirmed cases, the players were unwilling to risk further problems by competing against the Proteas.