Black armbands to be sported by both sides ahead of 3rd Test while flags at Adelaide Oval will fly at half-mast.
Bondi Beach shooting: teams to wear black armbands at Adelaide Ashes Test.
At this week’s third Ashes Test match at Adelaide Oval, players from both Australia and England will wear black armbands in remembrance of the victims of Sunday’s shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney.
Gunmen opened fire on crowds gathered in Sydney’s eastern suburbs to commemorate the first night of Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday, resulting in fifteen fatalities and several injuries.
On Wednesday prior to the first day of play, flags at Adelaide Oval will be flown at half-mast, and there will be a moment of silence before the national anthems and “Welcome to Country.” John Williamson, an Australian folk artist, will also perform his song “True Blue” in remembrance of the shooting victims.
Pat Cummins, who lives at nearby Bronte Beach, said that he had been “horrified” to learn of the attacks on Sunday night.
“Like most other Aussies and people round the world, [I was] horrified watching on,” Cummins said after training on Tuesday. “I’d just put the kids to bed and flicked the news on as that was coming through. Me and my wife were watching in disbelief.
“It’s a place that is just around the corner from where we live, and we take the kids there all the time. It hit home pretty hard. I really feel for the Bondi community, and Jewish community in particular. Seeing the scenes over the past couple of days has been pretty powerful as well. We’ll wear armbands throughout the Test and commemorate the victims.”
Ben Stokes claimed that it was a “incredibly sad” day for Australia after seeing coverage of the attacks from England’s squad room at their Adelaide hotel.
“What happened a couple of days ago was an awful thing to watch unfold,” Stokes, England’s captain, said. “We were sat in our team room and it came up on the news about what was happening. It was silence from everyone in there seeing that happen.
“It’s incredibly sad for Australia, for Sydney and for the world. It does put things into a lot of perspective when you see things like that happen. And for everyone that it’s affected, all our hearts go out to everyone. It’s a horrible thing to see happen.”