West Indies head coach Phil Simmons has rejoined his team ahead of the opening Test against England after being in mandatory quarantine and clearing the Covid-19 tests following his decision to attend a family funeral.

“Phil Simmons is back on the job. The West Indies head coach returned to the field with his players on Thursday after his mandatory quarantine and Covid-19 tests,” Cricket West Indies said on Thursday.

“He was part of the warm-up and pre-match preparations as West Indies continued their four-day warm-up match at the Old Trafford,” it further stated.

Simmons had found himself in a soup after board member Conde Riley had sought his “immediate removal” for moving out of the team’s bio-secure location in the UK to attend his father-in-law’s funeral.

However, the 57-year-old Simmons received the backing of Board president Ricky Skerritt, who insisted that he had taken permission before venturing out and made it clear that Simmons job is “not in any way threatened”.

“I want to assure West Indies cricket fans that Phil Simmons still has the full backing of Cricket West Indies no matter what has been said. When all is said and done, Phil’s job is not in any way threatened by that letter,” Skerritt said during a conference call.

“He went through a very vigorous recruitment process nine months ago and was the best man we could have found for the job. He’s still the best man.”

Black lives matter

English cricketers will join the West Indies team in sporting the Black Lives Matter logo on the collars of their shirts during the upcoming Raise the bat Test series to protest against racism in sports.

The decision taken by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was fully supported by the England players led by Test skipper Joe Root and stand-in captain for the opening Test, Ben Stokes.