Watch: ENG & SA players enter the field through military guard of honour for UK’s Queen
Ahead of the third day of the third and final England vs South Africa Test match, a minute’s silence was observed to pay tribute to UK Queen Elizabeth II.
Ahead of the third day of the third and final England vs South Africa Test match, a minute’s silence was observed to pay tribute to UK Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away at the age of 96. There were emotional scenes witnessed at The Oval in London as both sets of players and the umpires entered the field through a military guard of honour
Emotional scenes witnessed at The Oval
As seen in the video uploaded by England Cricket’s official social media handle below, both sets of players and the umpires entered the field through a military guard of honour before a minute’s silence was observed in honour of the UK Queen Elizabeth II. The minute’s silence was ended by a single chime of the bell before English singer Laura Wright sang the anthems of both countries. The South African national anthem was followed by ‘God Save The King.’
Speaking of the tribute given to UK Queen Elizabeth II, Ben Stokes told the BBC before the play began, “It’s always very special to stand on the ground and sing the national anthem and obviously today will have even more on it. The national anthem might be sung a little bit louder than it is normally, and rightly so. It’s great knowing that we’re going to be playing this game, not just for us but in memory of the Queen, so it’s a very special occasion for us.”
Play was moved to Saturday in honour of UK Queen
After the passing away of UK Queen Elizabeth II, the ECB released a statement to confirm that Day 2 of the England vs South Africa Test would be abandoned on Friday. The statement read, “Cricket will resume on Saturday to pay tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and honour her remarkable life and service.”
“Following the cancellation of Friday’s cricket fixtures as a mark of respect on the announcement of her death, the England and Wales Cricket Board can confirm that play will resume from Saturday including international, domestic, and recreational fixtures. The decision has been taken after consultation with DCMS and in line with the Official National Mourning guidance,” it added.
