Ex-England quick Malcolm laments father's death from coronavirus
Former England fast bowler Devon Malcolm said Tuesday it had been "really difficult" to return to terms with the death of his father from the coronavirus after being unable to go to him in hospital.
Malcolm's father Albert, who lived during a care home, died aged 75 on April 4.
He was admitted to hospital with a bladder infection on March 29 but only tested positive for COVID-19 two days before his death.
"It's so sad, we lost him during a few days," Malcolm told BBC Radio Five Live.
"It's so difficult when a beloved is admitted to hospital and you're told you cannot visit, you cannot be there for them."
Malcolm said his father was in healthiness the last time he saw him a month before his death.
But he had been unable to go to him subsequently due to social distancing measures designed to combat the spread of the virus and protect the foremost vulnerable.
"I'm trying to return to terms with it but it's getting to be really difficult," added the 57-year-old whose mother died when he was just five.
Jamaica-born Malcolm, who followed his father to England before making his name at Midlands county Derbyshire, said grieving at this point would be particularly awkward.
"We have a date for the funeral but the method is so different now to browsing a bereavement within the past.
"There are only five people plus the vicar allowed at the graveside.
"We're hoping within the future once we revisit to some normality, we will possibly do a correct service, celebrating his life with all his grandkids and his friends."
An express but sometimes erratic bowler, Malcolm took 128 wickets in 40 Tests with a shocking better of nine for 57 against South Africa at The Oval in 1994.
