The resumption of international cricket post-COVID-19 hiatus saw hosts England face off against West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Wednesday.
The toss was delayed due to persistent rain. After a co💜uple of hour🌃s of delay, England managed to win the toss and opted to bat first.
However, before the start of play, all cricketers went do𝓀wn on one knee to come in support of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign.
The match also saw the West Indies cricket team don the 🗹logo of the ‘Black Live M✅atter’ campaign on their jerseys.
All fielders, bowlers and the English batsmen went down on one kn✅ee and fist clenched gesture for about 20 seconds to display their solidarity for the campaign.
The gesture is a common norm ahead of the start of play in ‘Project Restart’ of English✃ Premier League (EPL).
Here’s the video:
ꦆEngland and West Indies players take a knee ahead of the first Test in support of
Watch🥀 live on Sky Sports Cricket now or follow here:
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket)
After three overs of play on Day 1, l꧅ight drizzles forced covers to come on and stop the game. West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel managed to castle Dominic Sibley who was dismissed on knot. Before interruption due to rain, England were 1/1 after three overs.
Here’s the playing XI:
England
Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Joe Denly, Zak Crawley, Ben Stokes (c), Ollie P⛄ope, Jos Buttler (wk), Dominic Bess, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, James Anderson.
West Indies
John Campbell, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, Shai Hope, Roston Chase, Jermaine Blackwood, Shane Dowrich (wk), Jason Holder (c), Al🎐zarri Joseph, Kemar Roach🐷, Shannon Gabriel.
