It’s probably an honest job that there have been no spectators at the Ageas Bowl for the opening day of England’s much delayed and far anticipated cricket season. If there had been, they might have spent most of the time trying to seek out shelter from persistent rain that kept the players off the sector for about 17.4 overs. After 117 days with none international cricket, and with the eyes of the planet fixed on its return in Southampton, English drizzle ruined things as only English drizzle can.
ENGLAND
( 35/1 IN 17.4 OVERS)
| BATSMENS | RUNS | BALLS |
| RORY BURNS | 20* | 55 |
| SIBLEY | 0 (BOWLED BY GABRIEL) | 4 |
| JOE DENLY | 14* | 48 |
WEST INDIES
| BOWLERS | OVERS | RUNS | WICKETS |
| KEMAR ROACH | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| SHANON GABRIEL | 5 | 19 | 1 |
| ALZARRI JOSEPH | 3.4 | 11 | 0 |
| JASON HOLDER | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Despite but 1 / 4 of the overs being bowled, this was definitely cricket and cricket was definitely back. it had been different in some ways, but not such a lot in others. the shortage of a crowd certainly made it feel more sterile than each day of Test cricket in England usually would but the cricket itself was reassuringly predictable at a time when predictability may be a welcome change. Three months ago, it seemed like there could be no cricket in the least this summer so getting things up and running may be a significant achievement.
For variety of reasons, this was still a big day. Indeed, the foremost significant moments came before a ball had been bowled. Sky Sports dedicated quite 20 minutes of their pre-game build-up to the Black Lives Matter campaign, with a strong pre-recorded segment with Michael Holding and Ebony Rainford-Brent followed by unscripted remarks from both of them. Rainford-Brent broke down as she described the racism she had encountered arising through English cricketing ranks on her thanks to becoming the primary Black woman to play for England.
