Prince William sparked a royal frenzy this week when he surprised the public by playing cricket on The Mall with England and India stars to celebrate Mumbai hosting his Earthshot Prize. The Prince of Wales brought traffic to a stop on the famous London thoroughfare for the game that saw England captain Joe Root and West Indies great Brian Lara play alongside grassroots cricketers. Also on the impromptu pitch were ex-India cricket captains Ajinkya Rahane and Sourav Ganguly.
Walkabout and viral gesture
After the match, the prince went on an impromptu walkabout and greeted members of the public who had gathered at the Mall. In pictures shared online, William can be seen speaking to fans and joking with them, with one picture of him with his hands on his eyes going viral. The gesture is an ode to John McGinn's trademark celebration, in which he cups his thumbs and index fingers upside down over his eyes to mimic a pair of goggles or a mask.
One user gushed on X: “Oh you big dork! I love him”. Another one said: “He's so dad.” A third one chimed: “Lucky woman is Mrs. Wales who married the joker.” A fourth one added: “William knows what to do and does it well.”
Batting with cricket legends
The future king first tried bowling at Lara, with slow medium deliveries pushed gently away, before taking the bat from the former West Indies captain, who holds the record for the highest first-class cricket score of 501 not out. William swung and missed at a number of deliveries from Harry Brook, England’s white-ball captain, and Ganguly before connecting with one ball and sending it over the heads of players from the internet sensation Backyard Cricket, which promotes the sport at the grassroots level.
Lara praised the prince and said he would be in his starting 11, adding: “Well, I think he underrates himself first of all because you know he’s a big football fan, as we all know. I think his bowling needs a lot of work, but his batting across the line, I think he’d just be my sort of number six or number seven batter, the guy that comes in at the end, and if he hits a couple of boundaries, he hits a couple of boundaries.”
Earthshot Prize details
The Earthshot Prize aims to discover, reward and finance ideas to help “repair” the planet and awards £1 million to winners in five categories, with Mumbai staging this year’s ceremony next month.
