England-West Indies cricket match delayed by traffic chaos as some players arrive on bikes

By Canadian Press on June 3, 2025.

LONDON (AP) — The one-day international between England and the West Indies got off to a late start on Tuesday after traffic congestion in London caused chaos to the teams’ travel plans.

Both sides got stuck on their team buses on the way to the Oval in south London, with England’s players deciding to get off and ride bikes to the ground instead.

While they arrived in enough time to conduct a thorough pre-match warmup under a gray sky, the West Indies players stayed on their bus and arrived at around 12:40 p.m. 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.

The toss was delayed by 40 minutes to 1:10 p.m. local time and it was won by England, which chose to bowl first in an attempt to take advantage of overcast conditions.

The match started at 1:30 p.m. local time. That was a delay of 30 minutes.

England, which has already clinched the three-match series after wins in Birmingham and Cardiff last week, was unchanged.

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

___

Lineups:

England: Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook (captain), Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks, Brydon Carse, Adil Rashid, Matthew Potts, Saqib Mahmood.

West Indies: Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Keacy Carty, Shai Hope (captain), Sherfane Rutherford, Justin Greaves, Roston Chase, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph, Alzarri Joseph, Jayden Seales.

___

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

The Associated Press