As veteran England pacer Stuart Broad bowled the first delivery of the ongoing third Ashes 2023 Test at Headingley, viewers’ eyes stressed upon the base of the stumps which seemed to be painted with the seven colours of a rainbow.
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Earlier, ahead of the start of the contest, England Cricket’s official Twitter handle had posted pictures of their Test captain Ben Stokes, former captain Joe Root and veteran pacer James Anderson posing before the lens wearing rainbow-coloured threads on their respective wrists.
Just the previous day, England Women cricketers had similar threads tied to their wrists. Some others were even spotted with rainbow-coloured shoe laces during the second Women’s Ashes 2023 T20I at The Oval, London.
Why Are Stumps Painted Rainbow In Leeds Ashes 2023 Test?
The rainbow-coloured stumps is part of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s participation in celebrating the ongoing Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign. The campaign, which is into its 10th year, is designed to raise its voice in support of the people from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual or commonly known as the LGBTQIA+ community and promote for their inclusion in sports.
The sport of cricket has been celebrating this campaign for the past six years. This year, the campaign is marking its presence between July 1-6, and will cover all the elite matches taking place during this period.
Thus, the rainbow laces, rainbow-coloured stumps, and big-screen graphics across all Vitality Blast and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy fixtures (July 2), England Women versus Australia Women at The Kia Oval on July 5 and Day 1 of England Men versus Australia Men at Headingley on July 6 were all part of the celebrations of this Rainbow Laces campaign.
For those unaware, the rainbow colours reflect the diversity of the community in addition to the spectrum of human sexuality and gender.
“As players, we have a platform to use and as a group we believe that cricket should be a game that everyone can play, watch and enjoy. We’re really proud to support LGBTQ+ inclusion in cricket, and we know that supporting a campaign like this can help LGBTQ+ individuals feel supported in the game,” remarked Root during an interaction with the ECB last week.
No Rainbow-Coloured Stumps On Day 2 Of Leeds Ashes 2023 Test
Today being the last day of the campaign, the usual blue-coloured stumps will replace the rainbow ones on the second day and remaining days as well of the Leeds Test.
The event, however, will run for an additional couple of days and will mark its presence across the recreational club fixtures in different parts of the country.
