William, Prince of Wales, plays cricket on The Mall
William, Prince of Wales, joined cricket stars for a game on The Mall to celebrate next month's Earthshot Prize, which is being held in Mumbai, India.
William, Prince of Wales, shut down The Mall to play street cricket.
The 44-year-old royal joined some stars of the game, including England test captain Joe Root, 35, and ex-Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane, 38, for an informal game on the roadway that leads to Buckingham Palace in London on Tuesday (13.10.26).
As well as Joe and Ajinkya, Trinidadian batting legend Brian Lara, 57, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, 54, England white-ball captain Harry Brook, 27, and England Women's all-rounders Danni Wyatt Hodge, 35, and Nat Sciver-Brunt, 34, took part.
Organised by Backyard Cricket UK, the street knockabout saw William bowl and bat for 10 minutes, and Joe was impressed.
He is quoted by The Sun as saying: "His batting was pretty good to be fair, I think he’s definitely a batter rather than a bowler, but he played some lovely shots. There’s a lot to work with there."
Joe joked that The Mall was "challenging wicket", but he hailed the experience as a "huge privilege", adding: "There are some wonderful backdrops in cricket but none quite like Buckingham Palace.
"It’s great to use the power of sport to show all the good things this initiative can do."
Brian thinks the heir to the throne makes a good batsman, but he needs to practice his bowling skills.
Per the publication, the star said: "He underrates himself; he’s a big football fan, he said he doesn’t know much about cricket.
"His bowling needs a lot of work, but his batting? I’d put him as the number six or number seven batter, definitely in the starting 11.
"He confessed about his cricketing ability. He did ask me what I was doing standing next to two Englishmen after punishing them for 400 runs, but that was many, many years ago."
Sourav said of Prince William: "He batted alright. He’s better than me at the moment because I just picked up a cricket bat for the first time in eight or nine years.
"He was so friendly with everyone, simple and down to earth. India will welcome him cordially. He’s such a lovely-natured person, smiling, shaking hands with everyone."
Nat presented the Prince of Wales with a cricket shirt for his and wife Catherine, Princess of Wales' daughter, Princess Charlotte, 11, before he met some spectators and even took selfies with a lucky few after the friendly game of street cricket.
The event was put on to celebrate next month's Earthshot Prize, which is being held in Mumbai, India.
The annual global environment award was founded by Prince William in 2020, and it recognises and funds solutions to repair and protect the planet.
William last stepped up to the crease in 2019 when he and Princess Catherine joined a group of youngsters for a game at the National Cricket Academy while on their royal tour to Pakistan.
The couple, also parents to Prince George, 13, and Prince Louis, eight, showed off their cricket skills during a game while on a trip to India in 2016, and then in New Zealand two years earlier.
