Former England fast bowler Devon Malcolm has decided to speak out publicly about his 75-year-old father, Albert, who died in hospital two days after testing positive for coronavirus.

Malcolm, 57, says his father, who was admitted to a private nursing home near Sheffield with a bladder infection on March 29, appeared to be responding well to antibiotics.

“We had a call saying he wasn’t too well and he was taken to hospital where he had a test for Covid-19 on Wednesday (April 1),” Malcolm revealed. “On Thursday, it came back positive and on Saturday (April 4), we were told to expect the worst.

“It’s surreal – you’re told he’s responding well, so you think everything is alright. Next you hear you’re told to prepare for the worst and then 20 minutes later, he’s gone.

“It’s so difficult when a loved one is admitted to hospital and you are told you can’t visit, you can’t be there for them.

“We have a date for the funeral, but the process is so different now than going through a bereavement in the past,” added Malcolm, whose mother died when he was only five.

“There are only five people plus the vicar allowed at the graveside.”

Malcolm, whose sister and two daughters work for the NHS, is pressing the government to make adequate protective equipment available to care home workers.

“It’s pretty obvious to me that the virus was taken into the care home by one of the workers.”

As one of the early Jamaica-born black players to represent England, Malcolm made his international debut in 1989 and took 128 wickets in 40 Tests.

“My dad was a very debonair, charming man,” smiles Malcolm. “When a nurse, who was looking after him, rang up my sister to tell her he had tested positive for the virus, she broke down in tears. It just shows how much people in the NHS care and the tremendous pressure everyone on the frontline is under.

“I take my hat off to them.”