SOMERSET'S Lewis Gregory will not be playing cricket for England today, after the first one-day international (ODI) against South Africa was postponed.

The teams were due to play the first of three ODIs today (Friday) in Cape Town, but Cricket South Africa (CSA) said that one of its players had tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday.

The three matches - originally scheduled for today, Sunday and Wednesday - will now take place on Sunday (December 6), Monday (December 7) and Wednesday (December 9) instead.

An England Cricket statement said that CSA's acting chief executive Kugandrie Govender and his English counterpart Tom Harrison had agreed to postpone the first fixture by two days "in the interests of the safety and well-being of both teams, match officials and all involved in the match".

All-rounder Gregory will hope to earn selection and make his mark in that postponed match, potentially alongside Taunton-born Jos Buttler, who helped England wrap up a 3-0 IT20 series win earlier this week.

Gregory's Somerset team-mate Tom Banton is also in South Africa, having been named as a reserve for both the IT20 and ODI series.