Know about the first professional gay cricketer Steven Davies

New Delhi: Gay rights and legalisation of same sex marriages have become the in thing in most of the developed countries, though in India, the Supreme Court is yet to accept this trend.Generally, gays and lesbians do not open up about their sexual orientation, that too if they are a celeb or sportsperson. But one name comes across our minds when thinking about gays in sports. That name is Steven Davies.Steven Davies is an English professional cricket player who became the first cricketer to publicly accept that he was a gay. Steven Davies is a wicket-keeper-batsman who currently plays for Surrey. He is a left-handed batsman that opens the batting in both first-class and limited-overs cricket. He has played ODI and Twenty20 cricket for England's national team also. In 2001, Davies began his career playing for Worcestershire, playing a number of games in second eleven cricket and in the ECB 38-County Cup, and played one C&G Trophy match in each of the following two seasons. In February and March 2004 he appeared for England Under-19s in the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, averaging 55.25 from six innings.In 2004 he made his senior Worcestershire debut, in a one-day game against Sri Lanka A. He also played for the England Under-19s in the home series against Bangladesh, and led the side on tour in India throughout the series of three "Tests" and five "One-Day Internationals". In 2004, too, Davies was awarded the NBC Denis Compton Award. On 25 August 2009, it was announced that Davies would move from Worcestershire at the end of the season as he had signed a three-year contract with Surrey. Davies was approached by Surrey and stated he was flattered by their offer. Three months later, wicket-keeper Jon Batty who had been a part of the club since 1997 left, leaving Davies as the main 'keeper with Gary Wilson as back up. In March 2006, he was called up to the England A squad to replace Chris Read, who had returned home after a burglary at his house. He was inducted in the England A squad touring Bangladesh in 2007. On 15 March 2009, Davies made his Twenty20 International debut for England opening the batting along with Ravi Bopara against the West Indies in Port of Spain, top-scoring with 27 from 21 balls as England reached 55 for 1, before collapsing to 121 all out. In October 2009, Davies was called up to England's Test squad for the first time. Although part of the Test squad, Davies was not selected for the ODI squad on the tour. Davies made his ODI debut in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy semi-final against Australia on 2 October, after regular wicket-keeper Matt Prior fell ill, but only scored 5 runs in a 9-wicket defeat. Davies had to wait nearly a year for his next appearance. After both Prior and Craig Kieswetter were dropped, Davies was given the gloves for the Pakistan ODI series during September 2010. England won the ODI series 3-2, with Davies earning himself a man-of-the-match award in the first game after top-scoring with 87. After the series, Davies was selected along with Prior as a keeper in England's squad for the 2010–11 Ashes series in Australia, although he was not required to play as England retained the Ashes with a 3-1 victory. In the one-day games that followed, he played in two Twenty20s before scoring 42 in the first ODI. However, when the squad for the 2011 World Cup was announced before the second ODI, Davies was left out in favour of Prior, who then joined up with the ODI side despite not originally being selected in the squad.