Just Stop Oil protesters delayed England's team bus on its journey to Lord's ahead of the opening day of their Test against Ireland; Play still got under way at 11am as planned; Watch the one-off Test live this week on Sky Sports Cricket
Thursday 1 June 2023 11:35, UK
England's Test summer failed to get off to the best start after the team bus was held up on its way to Lord's by Just Stop Oil protesters.
Jonny Bairstow posted a photo on his Instagram story on Thursday morning, which showed Just Stop Oil protesters and police officers in front of their team coach in the middle of the road.
However, there was no delay to proceedings on the opening day of the one-off Test against Ireland with the four-day contest getting under way at 11am as planned - despite the five-minute delay to the team's journey.
Bairstow's caption read: "If we're a bit late it's not our fault." Day one of the one-off Test between England and Ireland is set to start at 11am.
Just Stop Oil released video footage of their protest on social media, with a post saying: "Just Stop Oil supporters march In Kensington and Battersea. And apparently that's the England Cricket team bus.
"They [England cricket team] might know a bit about a batting collapse, but the climate crisis is no one-day international - it's our biggest test."
Amid the threat of potential protests this week at Lord's, the MCC said it has enhanced its security measures in some areas for this match.
"We look forward to welcoming players and spectators to the first international Test match of the summer at Lord's. Their safety and security is the highest priority for MCC," an MCC spokesperson told the PA news agency.
"We have a number of ground regulations that help us achieve that; including not entering the playing area or demonstrating.
"Whilst protests would disrupt the game, we have a number of security measures in place, some visible, some less so to deter this. In some areas we have enhanced those existing provisions ahead of this summer's schedule."
Protesters were also able to disrupt the Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham between Saracens and Sale last weekend.
Two men wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts invaded the pitch midway through the first half and threw orange paint powder onto the field before being removed by security staff.
A similar incident occurred at the Crucible during the World Snooker Championships in April, when Robert Milkins' match against Joe Perry was interrupted when a man wearing a Just Stop Oil T-shirt jumped on to table one and tipped orange powder over the cloth.
England begin their red-ball campaign with a four-day Test against Ireland at Lord's, live on Sky Sports Cricket, before the Ashes gets under way on June 16.
