Chris Silverwood will miss the fourth Test in Sydney after the emergence of a seventh Covid case in the England camp continued a miserable Ashes tour. The England head coach and chief selector, battling to save his job with the score at 3-0 down, has been forced to isolate for 10 days due to a member of his family testing positive for the virus, with Graham Thorpe, his assistant, taking charge in the interim. It means four family members and three coaches have returned positive results in the past week, the first of which emerged on Boxing Day evening with the touring party set to undergo a fourth round of testing before they depart Melbourne on New Year’s Eve. Thorpe’s short-term promotion remains conditional on him returning a negative result of his own but, provided all clear, he will lead a pared-back coaching staff that is without Jon Lewis (seam bowling coach), Jeetan Patel (spin coach) and Darren Veness (fitness). Silverwood, deemed a close contact of a family member who is positive but currently asymptomatic, will not be able to join the squad until the fifth Test in Hobart, provided the tour has not been derailed by the growing number of Covid cases in the camp. An England and Wales Cricket Board statement read: “Following the latest round of PCR tests administered to the England men’s touring party on 29 Wednesday December, one family member has tested positive. “As a result of the positive test, England men’s head coach Chris Silverwood will have to isolate for 10 days, along with his family, in Melbourne and will miss the fourth Ashes Test due to start in Sydney on Wednesday 5 January 2022. “The touring party gas recorded seven positive cases – three support staff and four family members – since a PCR testing regime was implemented on Monday 27 December.” Ever since the emergence of England’s first positive case – a family member who developed symptoms on Boxing Day evening – Cricket Australia have remained bullish about the tour’s completion. Both teams are flying to Sydney via charter plane and have exclusive use of a hotel during the fourth Test at the SCG.