Reports: ECB could have suffered million pounds loss had third Test against South Africa been cancelled

With the death of Queen Elizabeth the second, journalists close to the English Cricket Board were smelling a potential abandonment of the third Test against the Proteas at Oval. With the first day of the play drained out because of rain and bad light, the host country decided not to go ahead with the second day of the match. Reports claimed that there were discussions of a potential call off as well. 

In case the England Cricket Board (ECB) would have taken such a step, they would have suffered a million pounds loss. Reports state that insurance does not cover the death of a monarch and that’s where they would have incurred losses.

“The ECB’s insurance does not cover cancellation caused by the death of a monarch, and so multi-million pound losses would have followed had the governing body chosen that course of action for England’s third Test match against South Africa at the Kia Oval,” said the report.

Fortunately, the board decided to go ahead with the Test as play resumed on the third day of the match. Both the teams paid their tribute to the Queen by observing a minute’s silence before the game began.

England dominate the play with 36-run lead after the first innings

Batting first, South Africa didn’t look comfortable at all. Wickets were falling at regular intervals as England dominated the Proteas in their first innings. Marco Jansen’s 30 was the highest individual score from the Proteas as the team were dismissed for just 118 runs. 28-year-old Ollie Robinson picked up a fifer while the legendary Stuart Broad picked four wickets.

South African pacers did not help the English batters settle as well. Other than Ollie Pope and Joe Root, batters were pretty uncomfortable in the middle. Pope’s 67 and Root’s 23 helped England post 154 at the end of day's play. The three lions still have three wickets in their bag and they would take the lead from 36 runs to a minimum of 100 runs after the first innings. Meanwhile Marco Jansen, who batted well also picked up four wickets in the match.