Traffic chaos, rain delay England-WI match as some players arrive on bikes

First it was the London traffic. Then it was the rain. Delays impacted the progress of the one-day international between England and the West Indies at the Oval on Tuesday.

The match got off to a late start after traffic congestion in the capital caused chaos to the teams’ travel plans. Both sides got stuck on their team buses on the way to the ground in south London, with England’s players deciding to get off and ride bikes to the Oval instead.

The players were seen riding electrically-assisted Lime Bikes.

Traffic light failures and road closures near Vauxhall Bridge had caused the chaos, with England captain Harry Brook saying they had decided to take matters into their own hands.

“We were on the bus for a while, then we all decided to get off and get some Lime bikes in,” captain Harry Brook said after winning the toss and opting to bowl.

“We were in a little bit earlier than the West Indies boys, but we’re here now and ready to go.”

While they arrived in enough time to conduct a thorough pre-match warm up under a gray sky, the West Indies players stayed on their bus and arrived at around 12:40 pm local time — 10 minutes after the scheduled time for the toss.

“We probably should have walked,” West Indies captain Shai Hope said, laughing. The Windies stayed overnight at a hotel about a 3 1/2-mile drive (five-kilometer) from the Oval, Britain’s PA news agency reported.

Play eventually began 30 minutes late, after England - already the series winner after victories in Birmingham and Cardiff last week - won the toss and chose to bowl first in overcast conditions.

The West Indies got to 83-3 when the team had to come off for rain. There was a delay of around 90 minutes before they returned, by which time the match was reduced to 40 overs per team.

The Windies made three changes, bringing in Evin Lewis, Sherfane Rutherford and Shamar Joseph for Jewel Andrew, Shimron Hetmyer and Matthew Forde.

Agencies