England’s cricket stars will begin life in a biosecure bubble on Tuesday after being tested for COVID-19 ahead of the Test series against the West Indies.

They will spend the next three weeks confined to the third floor of the Hilton hotel in a complex attached to Southampton’s Ageas Bowl cricket ground.

The 30 players in the squad, and around 15 support staff, will be tested before they move into their hotel and will have to spend the first 24 hours alone in their room until their tests results are received.

Ollie Pope, a 22-year-old batsman and one of England’s brightest young talents, is among those about to enter the bubble.

“As cricketers we do spend a lot of time away from home but usually you’re allowed family to visit,” he said.

“It will be very strange to be confined to your room and even when you go for dinner with the teammates in the hotel you still have to spread out and no popping down the road for a coffee.

“We’re not sure when we’re going to be allowed out of the hotel so we’ve packed and prepared for a pretty long time.”

Beefy’s restaurant inside the Hilton would usually be open to cricket fans, but has been specially configured into a socially distanced dining room for the England team.

Each morning, before heading to the nursery ground for practise, they will have to walk through a tent with thermal cameras to check for coronavirus symptoms.

The Ageas Bowl has been divided into zones with only the players and key support staff permitted entry to certain areas.

Reminders about social distancing are omnipresent and players have been prepared for their entry to the site with information meetings on video conference calls.

“We know we have to bring our own balls to every fielding session,” said Pope.

“But it quickly becomes the norm. They’ve got to cover all bases and go above and beyond just in case something does break out. When we’re in the hotel we have to wear masks all the time so that will be very weird.

“We’ve had a few discussions and I think when we do take wickets we’ll have to adjust our celebrations and not get too carried away, keep it to a knuckle touch or even a foot tap, we’ll think of something quirky.”

For some, being inside the bubble is more problematic.

England captain Joe Root is expecting the birth of his second child in the first half of July, during which time England will play a three-Test series against the West Indies.

Steve Elworthy, the operations director for the England and Wales Cricket Board, has been instrumental in developing the bubble at the Ageas Bowl and is trying to find a way for Root to safely leave and return, if possible.

“The thing we really need to consider is keeping both environments he moves into safe and secure.

“Not only the England team and Joe himself, but also the environment he moves into, so his family.

“And as we know, testing protocols change very quickly so we’re doing absolutely everything we can to see if we can find a way to allow that to happen because we’d love him to obviously play in the first Test match behind closed doors.

“It’s going to be a first for him and we know how integral he is to the England team so we are working on everything we can.”

The West Indies team arrived in England earlier this month.

Both teams will travel from Southampton to Manchester for the second and third Tests at Old Trafford.

England players will travel separately in their own vehicles. A county ground will be open on the route, possibly Edgbaston or Derby, in order for them to lunch in a biosecure environment.

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