Why was Lord’s, the home of cricket, decked in red as England took on India?

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The iconic Lord’s cricket ground turned red on Friday to help families dealing with the heartbreak of terminal illness.

There was red clothing, red balloons and even red smoke as the second day of the third Test match between England and India became Red For Ruth Day, in aid of the Ruth Strauss Foundation.

The aim is to help children facing the trauma of losing a parent.

Let The Athletic explain more.

Who was Ruth Strauss?

An Australian-born actress, businesswoman and mother of two, Ruth McDonald became Ruth Strauss in 2003 when she married Andrew Strauss, an English cricketer whom she had met five years earlier in Sydney, where he was playing club cricket.

Andrew made his debut for England later that year and would go on to captain his country in 50 of his 100 Test matches, as well as leading the English one-day international team. After settling in Britain, Ruth moved away from acting to support her husband’s career and care for their children.

She was diagnosed in early 2018 with an incurable lung cancer that affects non-smokers, and died in Australia on December 29 that year, aged 46. She was survived by Andrew and their two sons, Luca and Samuel, then aged 10 and 13.

Ruth and Andrew Strauss with their children, Samuel (left) and Luca, celebrating England’s Ashes success in 2009 (Tom Shaw/Getty Images)

When and why was the foundation launched?

Sir Andrew, who was knighted in 2019, launched the foundation three months after his wife’s death.

It was inspired by Ruth’s desire to help others prepare their children better for the grief of losing a parent and to raise awareness of the prevention and treatment of lung cancers suffered by non-smokers.

On the foundation’s website, Sir Andrew writes: “For those who are diagnosed too late, or are unable to find a successful treatment, they have the hugely painful and unenviable task of preparing themselves and those around them for the inevitability of their death.

“As Ruth bravely considered this towards the end of her life, her thoughts were almost exclusively centred on what her death would mean to the boys and myself, as well as what ‘good’ could come out of this dreadful situation.

“The idea of the foundation was hers. Aside from driving research into non-smoking lung cancers, she was determined to ensure that others going through what our family had encountered should have a support network available to help them navigate their way through their illness and help prepare the whole family for the death of a parent.

“She wanted people to ‘do death well’.”

Andrew Strauss takes to the field at Lord’s on Friday morning in his red suit (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

What does the foundation do?

It takes a two-pronged approach.

Primarily, the foundation aims to help families prepare as well as possible for the death of a parent who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. It also tries to raise awareness of the need for pre-bereavement support as well as providing training for nurses to help them support families to prepare children for the loss of a parent. In addition, the foundation has now launched a programme to help train teachers to support affected children in schools and is developing a telephone helpline and online services to support families directly.

The second focus is on improving research into lung cancers that affect non-smokers by campaigning for more investment and trying to coordinate research.

The foundation has already raised more than £4million ($5.4m) and, according to announcements at Lord’s this morning, helped more than 5,000 families.

The teams line up in a heart formation as the fireworks go off before Friday’s start of play (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

What is Red for Ruth Day?

Each year, one day of a Test match at Lord’s is designated as Red for Ruth Day — the foundation’s biggest day annually for fundraising and increasing awareness of its work.

Players, officials and spectators are encouraged to wear red clothing, sponsors often agree to redesign their company’s branding in red for the day, and the two teams take to the field wearing red caps, which in the past have later been auctioned online to raise money for the foundation.

Sir Andrew set the tone today with a bright red suit and tie, while the names and numbers on the white shirts of England’s players were switched to red from their normal blue.

Lord’s, just north of central London, was chosen as the Red for Ruth Day venue as it is not only the historic home of English cricket, but also the home ground of Middlesex, Sir Andrew’s county side during his playing career.

Is this unique to Lord’s?

No. Fundraising days were pioneered by the legendary Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath, whose wife Jane died from breast cancer in 2008, 11 years after she was first diagnosed.

The couple founded the McGrath Foundation together in 2002 and ‘Pink Day’ has been held at the first Test match played in Sydney every year since 2007 to raise funds and awareness.

Glenn McGrath receives a pink cap from India’s Virat Kohli on Jane McGrath Day this January (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)

Sir Andrew took advice from McGrath, his former on-field adversary, when setting up the Ruth Strauss Foundation.

In recent years, the Edgbaston ground in Birmingham has designated one day each year ‘Blue For Bob Day’ in aid of the Bob Willis Fund, set up to raise awareness and funds for research into prostate cancer in memory of the late former England bowler, whose long-time county side Warwickshire call that venue home.

Click here to read more cricket stories on The Athletic.

(Top photo: Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

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