London (AFP) - The Oval has known many 'departures' given it often stages the last Test of an English cricket season, with Australia great Don Bradman and former England captain Alastair Cook taking their leave of the international stage at the ground.
But the south London venue fell silent on Saturday before the start of the third day's play in the third Test between England and South Africa for a farewell of a very different kind as the ground paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.
The death of Britain's longest-serving monarch at the age of 96 on Thursday had led the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to abandon Friday's play.
And with Thursday's opening day washed out, it meant what should have been a five-day match had now been reduced to a three-day game.
Unlike their counterparts at English football's Premier League, who have suspended their fixtures this weekend, the ECB decided to resume play Saturday.
"It was incredible actually, it was amazing to be a part of," England seamer Stuart Broad, who took four wickets as South Africa were dismissed for 118 before the hosts slumped to 154-7 in reply, a lead of just 36 runs, told Sky Sports after stumps.
"Every single player commented on how special it was -- you could hear a pin drop.The respect shown by everyone in the stadium was incredible."
'Celebration'
The veteran seamer added: "To be able to sing the national anthem, with a full house, just about to represent your country was brilliant.
"It felt like almost a celebration of the Queen's life today.It felt good to be out there representing the badge."
As spectators took their seats at the Oval, they would have noticed a few changes, with the usual advertising signs on the perimeter hoardings replaced by black and white messages marking the death of the Queen.
Then, 10 minutes before the scheduled start of play at 11:00 am (1000 GMT), the players and match officials -- all wearing black armbands as a sign of respect -- walked onto the outfield through a military guard of honour.
Under grey skies, and with the Union flag flying alone above the pavilion -- where the England and South Africa flags would usually have been on display as well -- a near capacity crowd of 27,500 then observed, impeccably, a minute's silence ended by a one-bell chime from Senior NCO Robert Brockelsby Miller of the Irish Guards.
With the teams and officials still lined up in front of the pavilion, professional soprano Laura Wright -- well known for her performances at sporting events -- sang the South African national anthem unaccompanied as the crowd listened in silence before politely applauding.
Wright then delivered the first performance of 'God Save the King', Britain's now slightly but significantly altered national anthem, at a major sporting event since the Queen's death, with the crowd -- most of whom had never known about anything but 'God Save the Queen' -- joining in.
Honouring the Queen at the Oval, which staged the first Test in England in 1880, seemed all the more appropriate given the ground is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall private estate.
The duchy, created in 1337 by King Edward III for his son and heir, was until Thursday controlled by the Duke of Cornwall, who is now the king.
In one of his first acts as monarch, Charles passed the title to his elder son and heir Prince William.
Mark Henderson, attending the match with his wife Niki and their children Anna, a member of the Surrey Under-11 squad and nine-year-old Tom, had no doubt officials had been correct to restart the match on Saturday.
"I think it was absolutely the right thing to do," Henderson, 48, told AFP.
"I think the Queen more than anybody had a spirit of 'keep on, keeping on', of keep doing things in difficult circumstances."
Henderson, the director of communications at the Wellcome Trust health foundation, added: "I think she would have wanted sport, which she cared a lot about particularly, to continue.I think the decision was completely vindicated by the reaction of the Oval crowd this morning.
"It was astonishing -- I don't think I've heard a silence more silent."
