England and Australia players are wearing Blue Caps on Day 2 of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham. It is ‘Blue for Bob’ Day at Edgbaston today and the players are raising awareness against Prostate cancer and money is being raised in support of the Bob Willis Fund.
The first Ashes test began on June 16 as English skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first against a strong Australian bowling lineup. England batters played with the same ‘Bazball’ approach on Day 1 of the first test after which Stokes declared the innings at 393-8.
England and Australia players wear Blue Caps in honor of Former English Captain Bob Willis
Former England captain Bob Willis passed away in December 2019 at the age of 70 from prostate cancer. After his death, his wife Lauren Clark and brother David Willis established the Bob Willis Fund to promote awareness about prostate cancer.
It is Blue for Bob Day at Edgbaston on June 17, the day when the club encourages everyone to wear blue to remember and raise money in memory of Bob Willis. England and Australia players are wearing blue caps to raise awareness against Prostate cancer and Money is being raised in support of the Bob Willis Fund.
Thank you to to everyone at @Edgbaston @SkyCricket and @englandcricket for the most fantastic, emotional and uplifting start to #BlueForBob this morning. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/sdiOlhAuR0
— The Bob Willis Fund (@bobwillisfund) June 17, 2023
Ricky Ponting, Michael Atherton and Kevin Pietersen too have joined in with some smart blue blazers. This initiative was first started in the year 2021 during an ODI match between England and Pakistan.
Earlier, in July 2022 Team India and England players did the same on Day 2 of the 5th test at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Bob Willis played 90 Test matches for England, taking 325 wickets at an average of 25.20.
Team India wearing blue caps in memory of Bob Willis on day 2!
— Cricket Universe (@CricUniverse) July 3, 2022
🇮🇳🏴#teamindia #india #viratkohli #jaspritbumrah #bobwillis #england #indvseng #test #cricketuniverse pic.twitter.com/M0RMhM66FG
Talking about the game, after declaring their innings on 393-8, England were expecting to get a couple of Australian wickets on Day 1 of the first Ashes Test. However, they couldn’t do so as opening batter David Warner and Usman Khawaja safely negated the new ball and took Australia’s total to 14-0 at the stumps.
However, in the first session of Day 2 experienced pacer Stuart Broad provided them the kind of start they needed with the new ball as he dismissed David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne. Australia were further pushed back by the English skipper Ben Stokes as he got rid of Steve Smith reducing them to a total of 74-3 at the end of 29 overs.