London Traffic Delays West Indies; England Avoids Jam on Bikes

In an odd turn of events, several players of the England cricket team rode rental bicycles to avoid traffic in London. The England vs. West Indies 3rd ODI was delayed as the teams’ buses were caught in heavy traffic in London.

The start of the third ODI between England and the West Indies was pushed back due to an unexpected traffic jam. The buses got held up in traffic, which delayed the arrival of players at The Oval.

Hosts Arrive in Style

The West Indies players were stuck in traffic north of the river. To avoid similar delays, some of the England players decided to ride Lime bicycles to reach the stadium.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) released a statement ahead of the toss: “Due to a delayed arrival of one of the playing teams, who are stuck in heavy traffic north of the river, the scheduled start of play will be delayed. Once all members of the playing teams arrive, the match officials will coordinate updated timings and discuss any impact on the schedule of play. We will update spectators with the schedule of play as soon as we are able to.”

The arrival delay meant no training in the nets for the Windies before the match. They confirmed their late arrival on X (formerly Twitter), posting:
“Due to heavy traffic delays, our team arrived moments before the previously scheduled toss time.”

England Eye Clean Sweep

The toss was originally scheduled for 12:30 PM local time (5:00 PM IST). It was pushed back to 1:10 PM (5:40 PM IST), with the match to begin at 1:30 PM (6:00 PM IST).

England is eyeing a whitewash against the West Indies, having already won the first two matches of the three-match series in Birmingham and Cardiff. The West Indies, on the other hand, will look for a comeback to end the series at 1-2. The two teams will face each other in a three-match T20I series from June 6.

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