The game of cricket saw a couple of firsts on Thursday as the ICC World Test Championship kicked-off with England taking on Australia in the Ashes at Edgbaston. One of the bigger talking points on the day, however, was the introduction of names and numbers of the back of the players’ shirts.
Steve Smith, making a comeback to Test cricket, played a knock for the ages to bail Australia out of a hopeless situation. While the 30-year-old was hailed by one and all for his heroic effort, there was one other topic that went viral on social media – names and numbers on the pristine whites for the first time in history of Test cricket, of course.
Australia have gone with a big bold font while England have opted for a slightly more subtle style. The text isn’t stitched onto the clothes and is only pasted like a sticker. Also, the names and numbers are mentioned only on the shirts, not the sweaters.
It’s safe to say that the unanimous verdict after the first day’s play wasn’t positive. Former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist was one of the first ones to voice his displeasure at the change and his tweet was followed by umpteen similar posts by viewers.
However, there were even the likes of Ian Bishop and Harsha Bhogle who lent their wight behind this change by the International Cricket Council.
Here are some reactions:
Not everyone was disappointed though:
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