Stumps given black armbands for Queen Elizabeth II as England vs South Africa resumes

England captain Ben Stokes insisted ‘the show must go on’ as England’s Test match against South Africa at the Oval resumed on Saturday following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Friday’s play was suspended following the death of the long-serving monarch but the series decider, effectively reduced to a three-day contest, got underway again this morning following the ECB’s announcement yesterday.

England’s players took to the field wearing black armbands, while the stumps were also adorned with a tribute to the 96-year-old, who died at Balmoral on Thursday.

A minute’s silence was impeccably observed by a capacity crowd packed into the historic south London venue, before the national anthems of both teams were sung.

While the Football Association called off all fixtures, including at grass roots level, this weekend, cricket took the decision to green light a resumption, much to the delight of Stokes.

He said: ‘We are honoured to be able to walk out on the field today in memory of the Queen. We know how much the Queen loved sport, and the show must go on.’

After winning the toss and electing to bowl, it wasn’t long before the timber adorned with a unique tribute was disturbed with a classic Ollie Robinson in-swinger sneaking past Dean Elgar’s inside edge and clattered into his off-stump.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>The Oval stands to sing ‘God Save the King’. pic.twitter.com/sI87bQyaH0

It wasn’t long before England were celebrating again when, in the next over, Elgar’s fellow opener Sarel Erwee was heading back to the pavilion after he edged James Anderson behind to the diving Ben Foakes.

And the tourists were in complete disarray at 21-3 when Robinson, this time bowling over the wicket to the right-handed Keegan