Johannesburg — South Africa’s Test series with England will conclude with what will effectively be a three-day match, starting at The Oval on Saturday, with special pre-match tributes to Queen Elizabeth II set to be part of proceedings.
The English monarch died on Thursday night, leading to the postponement of the second day’s play of the third Test on Friday. Following a meeting between various sports bodies in England with the British government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on Friday morning, it was left up to the organisations to determine whether they wanted to go ahead with events this weekend.
“There is no obligation to cancel or postpone events and sporting fixtures, or close entertainment venues during the national mourning period. This is at the discretion of individual organisations,” the government’s statement said.
The Premier League chose to postpone the weekend’s round of football matches, but the England Cricket Board decided to go ahead with the Test as well as other international and domestic matches “to pay tribute” to the queen.
A lengthy series of meetings took place later on Friday between Cricket SA and the ECB about the possibility of adding a fourth day on Tuesday, but that ultimately proved futile. The Test was originally due to finish on Monday, with the Proteas set to travel back on Tuesday.
However, a Tuesday finish was impossible for logistical reasons with the South African players and coaches, many of whom have been in England since the start of July, wanting to have as much time as possible at home, before heading to India.
The Proteas are due to play three one-day and three T20 internationals against India later this month and then fly straight from there to Australia for the T20 World Cup.
“CSA is in full support of the ECB’s decision to go ahead with the third Test match between England and South Africa following the UK’s day of mourning,” CSA’s chief executive, Pholetsi Moseki said. “After consultation with the Proteas’ team management and given the schedule ahead, it was clear that it would not be in the players’ interests to extend the Test and reduce the few days the players have with their families before another long tour.”
The series is locked at 1-1. The toss and teams won’t change, with South Africa set to bat first when the match starts on Saturday, with 98 overs to be bowled each day.
England captain Ben Stokes tweeted on Friday that the Test should go ahead in the monarch’s honour. “She loved sport, be honoured to play in her memory,” Stokes wrote.
There will be a minute’s silence before the anthems on Saturday, with the English set for a first rendition of God Save The King since 1952.
Cricket SA sent its “sincerest condolences” to the England Cricket Board, stating that the queen “was an iconic figure who always inspired hope and resilience”.
“The longest-reigning monarch in British history was an avid sport enthusiast and an ardent cricket fan. She had occasion to meet with some of the Proteas players over the years,” CSA said in its statement.
The last of those meetings was in 2019 when she met the captains — including Faf du Plessis — ahead of the World Cup, which was held in England that year.