England cricket team black armbands: Why are teams wearing black armbands in Ageas Bowl ODI?

England cricket team black armbands: Both England and Ireland will be wearing black armbands in the third ODI in Southampton.

During the third ODI of the ongoing Ireland’s tour of England in Southampton, Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie won the toss and elected to field in a bid to put their best foot forward to register a victory in the series.

“Looks a good wicket, think it will stay pretty similar as the day goes on,” Balbirnie said during the toss before announcing a change in Mark Adair replacing Simi Singh in the Playing XI.

As far as the hosts are concerned, captain Eoin Morgan had to introduce forced change as seamer Reece Topley was ruled out with a groin strain on the eve of the match. Having played the first ODI, Tom Curran has once again been included into the English side.

England cricket team black armbands

Both English and Irish players are being seen wearing black armbands on the field. It is worth mentioning that the same has been done to mark the death of Irish politician John Hume. Currently aged 83, Hume had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 for his role in the British province’s peace process.

“We are deeply saddened to announce that John passed away peacefully in the early hours of the morning after a short illness,” his family said in a statement.

Ross McCollum, chair of Cricket Ireland, said: “We were all saddened to hear of the passing of John Hume. He was a tremendous man with fantastic vision and a relentless commitment to peace. He will no doubt be remembered as a giant of his time, and his legacy will extend for many generations to come. On behalf of the Irish cricket community, we pass on our condolences to John’s family and friends.”