Why are England players wearing black armbands in today’s third Test against Pakistan in Southampton?

England players wearing black armbands: The English cricketers are wearing black armbands in the ongoing third Test at the Ageas Bowl.

During the first day of the third Test of the ongoing Pakistan’s tour of England in Southampton, England have scored 91/2 in 28 overs in the first session after their captain Joe Root won the toss a opted to bat.

While England made a solitary change to their XI by including fast bowler Jofra Archer in place of all-rounder Sam Curran, Pakistan fielded the same XI from the last match which means that veteran batsman Fawad Alam’s international comeback hasn’t been restricted to just one outing.

In what was an archetype first session of Test cricket in England, it saw early wickets falling but also had a lot for the batsmen as Zac Crawley completed his fourth Test half-century in the last over before lunch.

As far as the Pakistani bowlers are concerned, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Yasir Shah are the ones who made inroads into the English batting lineup.

Why are England players wearing black armbands in Southampton?

English players wearing black armbands on the field today made the fans on TV wonder with respect to the reason behind it. It is worth mentioning that the black armbands have been worn as a mark of respect for Essex batsman Dan Lawrence who lost his mother earlier this month.

Yet to make his debut for England, 23-year old Lawrence has been part of the reserves which remained with the team in the bio-secure bubble this summer.

Subsequently released to play for Essex in the Bob Willis Trophy, Lawrence scored a match-winning 60 (77) inclusive of seven fours while chasing a 196-run target against Sussex earlier this week.