England and the West Indies walk out ahead of day one of the 1st #RaiseTheBat Test match at The Ageas Bowl on July 08
International cricket marked its return after a long wait of 117 days owing to the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday with the opener of the three-match Test series between England and West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
Twitter was flooded with reactions from cricket fans all around the globe, cherishing the day of the return of the sport and among them were reactions of a few from the cricket community as well.
"Cricket is back Positive scenes coming out from UK. So good to finally see some cricket being played. Wishing both teams the best. Can’t wait to be out there myself #EngVsWI," tweeted Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma.
Play started after a three-hour delay because of light rain and a wet outfield, and only lasted for three overs before the teams had to go back inside because of another shower.
England was 1-1 after losing Dom Sibley, who was bowled by Shannon Gabriel.
England's stand-in captain, Ben Stokes, won the toss and opted to bat under overcast skies.
Filling in for Joe Root, who was absent because of the birth of his second child, Stokes was captain for the first time and made a big call in leaving out fast bowler Stuart Broad — a long-time regular in the team.
Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and James Anderson made up England's pace attack along with Stokes.
West Indies captain Jason Holder, who left out Rahkeem Cornwall, said he was “not too disappointed to be bowling first."
After the toss was made, Stokes briefly forget about social distancing when he went to shake the hand of Holder. Holder move his hand away and both allrounders laughed.
(With AP inputs)
