Australia has reported its first cases of the Omicron Covid variant as there are concerns that an Ashes test with England is in doubt.

Strict border restrictions are in place and fears have been expressed that there is a “50-50” chance that at least one match will not take place.

Countries around the world are pushing to close their borders and impose quarantine restrictions to tackle the new version, which was first detected in southern Africa.

Australian officials said two foreign travelers who arrived in Sydney from the region became the first in the country to test positive for the new variant.

The England team is currently in Australia to prepare for the first Ashes Test in Brisbane, which is scheduled to begin on 8 December in Brisbane.

Already, Western Australia Cricket Association chief executive Christina Mathews has said that the fifth and final Test in Perth in January was in doubt due to the state’s strict border control measures.

“I would probably say at this point that I’m 50-50,” Mathews told Australian broadcaster ABC.

“I went up to 97%, but I came back to 50-50. We’ll wait and see. ,

The Perth Test is set to begin on January 14, five days after the scheduled end of the fourth Test in Sydney.

Western Australia is expected to open its borders in late January or early February, as 90% of the state’s over 12-year-old population faces a double whammy.

With the arrival of new variants, this seems to be doubtful.

England’s cricket manager Ashley Giles, who is in Australia with the Ashes team, said there will be boundary changes that will affect the players.

“There are going to be changes to border controls so that our families can travel,” he said.

“We hope this does not affect us, but we are in the hands of national and local governments.

“We always knew that things could change, I think we expected things to get better as we progressed in the series, but as we have known for two years, things change as well. Can change negatively.”

The new strain is said to have a higher number of mutations in the virus’s spike protein.

The two passengers were part of a group of 14 others who arrived in Australia on Saturday from southern Africa.

They were asymptomatic and both were vaccinated against COVID-19. Another 12 have been kept in quarantine.

Israel has become the first country to close its doors to all travellers, with the worldwide outbreak of the viral Omicron virus.

In addition to Australia and Israel, the version has appeared in the UK, Italy, Germany, South Africa, Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and the Czech Republic.

The new strain was first reported by the World Health Organization earlier this week, after a case was reported in South Africa earlier this month.

The World Health Organization described it as “a sort of concern” and said that preliminary evidence “suggests an increased risk of reinfection.”

In the UK, Sajid Javid confirmed yesterday that there have been two cases of the Omron Kovid variant.

The health secretary said dangerous super strains had been reported in Chelmsford and Nottingham as fears of a second Christmas lockdown increased.

South African passengers line up for COVID-19 tests at Amsterdam airport amid new fears of variants