Ahead of England playing their first game of home summer in a one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s on Thursday, the hosts’ team bus suffered a brief halt on its way to the iconic cricket stadium by Just Stop Oil protesters.
Wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow posted a photo on his Instagram story, which showed three Just Stop Oil protesters and as many Metropolitan police officers in front of the England team bus in the middle of the road at Kensington on their way to Lord’s.
“If we’re a bit late it’s not our fault,” wrote Bairstow in the caption along with three facepalm emojis. Multiple reports said the England team bus was stopped for five minutes, before reaching Lord’s shortly after 9 am to begin their build-up for the Test against Ireland.
Day one of the one-off Test between England and Ireland is set to start at 11 am London time. The match also marks Bairstow’s comeback to international cricket after he broke his right leg in a freak accident while playing golf last year.
Previously, two members of the Just Stop Oil campaign had invaded the pitch of the Premiership Rugby final at Twickenham, spraying orange paint power, before being taken away by staff and players. A similar incident led by the climate change group had occurred during the World Snooker Championships in April.
The last time England played a Test against Ireland at Lord’s, the hosts won by 143 runs. After England play a four-day Test against Ireland at Lord’s, they will play the first Ashes Test against Australia at Edgbaston from June 16-20.
It will be followed by the rest of the games taking place at Lord’s (June 28-July 2), Headingley (July 6-10), Old Trafford (July 19-23) and The Oval (July 27-31).
Australia haven’t won an Ashes series in England since 2001 while the Ben Stokes-led side is looking to regain the urn for the first time since 2015.
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