Kids wait for Test stars

A CROWD of well over a hundred cricket fans, mainly youngsters, were told by stewards to wait for autographs at the bottom of the stairs to the England dressing room at the Ageas Bowl following the series win against India.

Two-and-a-half hours later they were still waiting for the players to emerge, by which time many disillusioned kids had left. Why could Joe Root and his team not have come out for a few minutes and then returned to their celebrations?

The England explanation is that the players had been signing numerous autographs throughout the Test — even on the boundary during breaks in play — and Alastair Cook announcing his retirement to the players in the dressing room had been emotional, with some players in tears, leading to them spending longer than usual in there.