Cliff Notes – London traffic chaos makes West Indies late for Oval ODI as England cycle in
- West Indies captain Shai Hope quipped that his team “probably should have walked” after heavy traffic caused a 40-minute delay to their ODI against England at The Oval.
- England’s players opted for e-bikes to reach the venue after facing similar traffic issues, while West Indies arrived late, disrupting their warm-up routine.
- The match start was further complicated by light rain, leading to a 90-minute interruption during West Indies’ innings, with England ultimately winning the reduced game.
London traffic chaos makes West Indies late for Oval ODI as England cycle in
West Indies captain Shai Hope joked that his team “probably should have walked” to The Oval after heavy traffic prompted a farcical half-hour delay to their third men’s ODI against England.
Traffic-light failures in the Vauxhall Area and the closure of Lambeth Bridge prompted England’s players to get off the team bus and use e-bikes to reach The Oval, but West Indies’ journey from their team hotel in Chelsea was so long that the toss was delayed by 40 minutes and the start pushed back by half an hour.
“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,” an ECB statement said. “Once all members of the playing teams arrive, the match officials will coordinate updated timings and discuss any impact on the schedule of play.”
The West Indies bus eventually arrived at around 12.40pm
The West Indies bus eventually arrived at around 12.40pm, 10 minutes after the scheduled toss, and their players immediately began to warm up. They were staying four miles away from The Oval at the Chelsea Harbour Hotel and Spa, prompting Hope to joke: “We probably should have walked.” A CWI spokesperson simply said: “There were some road closures.”
Gudakesh Motie, the left-arm spinner, said after West Indies’ seven-wicket loss that the delay had significantly disrupted their preparations. “It was very tough this morning,” he said. “Two hours on the bus in the traffic is very hard… When we got to the ground, we had five or ten minutes before [the toss]. We had to speed up our routine, basically.”
England had faced similar issues on their journey south from their hotel in High St Kensington, but decided to use alternative transport on their journey. “We were all playing cards on the back of the bus, and then next minute, we looked at the time and thought, ‘We’re going to have to get on some bikes.'”
Some London-based players travelled in on the tube or walked, but around a dozen used Lime bikes to cycle in, riding up the Harleyford Road before parking behind the Micky Stewart Members’ Pavilion. Brook credited Jos Buttler for his quick thinking, saying: “It was his idea.”
The start might have been delayed in any case due to inclement weather, with some drizzle around London on Tuesday lunchtime. West Indies’ first innings was later interrupted by rain for over 90 minutes, with England winning the reduced game comfortably.