The third Test between England and South Africa commenced on Saturday at the Kennington Oval, London. Before that, everyone present in the stadium gave an emotional seven-minute tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, who sadly passed away on Thursday evening, at the age of 96.
England’s updated national anthem, God Save The King, was played at a sporting arena for the one time since 1952, after which Queen Elizabeth II took the throne, at the age of 25.
This, Saturday, is the third day of the Test match. The toss duties were done on Thursday, with England skipper Ben Stokes winning the toss and electing to bowl first. However, soon after the toss, the rain gods opened up again and poured all day – the Day 1 of the Test was abandoned.
Only a few hours after the passing away of the Queen on Thursday, the ECB announced that no cricket will take place on Friday – Day 2 was cancelled as a mark of respect following the Queen’s passing.
On Friday afternoon then, the decision was made that the Test will resume on Saturday, but with no extension to the Test, meaning there will only be three days of play. There will be 98 overs scheduled each day, with play allowed to run until 7 pm including an extra half-hour.
Watch: Everyone at The Oval pays homage to the Queen
Both sides entered the playing field with an unusual crowd silence. The players and officials passed through a military guard of honour and their management and staff also came to the edge of the boundary.
First, a minute’s silence took place at 10:54 am, followed by a one-bell chime by Senior NCO Robert Brockelsby Miller of the Irish Guards.
As the tradition, the national anthem of the away team – South Africa in this case, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika – was sung first with silence across and no music to accompany the singer Laura Wright. The crowd gave applause after the Protea national anthem, before the host crowd and the England players sang the updated English national anthem, concluding with tremendous applause.
The ECB uploaded the video of this ceremony:
A beautiful few moments as cricket pays its respects to Her Majesty The Queen. pic.twitter.com/3QnZiFEOKq
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 10, 2022
Before taking the field, England captain Ben Stokes paid his tribute to the Queen, speaking about how she was passionate about sport in the country.
“It’s been very sad news for not only the nation but the world with the Queen’s passing. She was someone who dedicated her life to the nation, someone that we take incredible inspiration from and we are honoured to be able to walk out on the field in memory of the Queen,” Stokes said.
“We know how much the Queen loved this sport, and the show must go on. I’m sure she’ll be looking down on all the sport that’s still going ahead over this weekend and that we’re going out there in her honour. I’m very pleased and proud we can do that,” the England skipper added.
