The second day of the second Ashes cricket test at Lord's Cricket Ground has gone red in honour of Ballarat-raised mum Ruth Strauss, the wife of former England cricket captain Andrew Strauss, who died last year from a rare form of lung cancer.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
English and Australian players wore shirts with the logo of the Ruth Strauss Foundation, which was established to fund lung cancer research and give support to patients and their families. They also donned red caps and red numbers.
Red was Ruth's favourite colour.
The couple's two sons Sam, 13, and Luca, 11, rang the five-minute bell to signify the imminent start of the day's on-field action, joining a big-name list of bell ringers since the tradition began in 2007.
The Strauss' were regulars in Buninyong and Ballarat, where Ruth grew up and where the couple owned a property.
The-then Ruth McDonald and Andrew Strauss married in Ballarat in 2003, having met in Sydney when he was playing cricket with Mosman for three seasons.
WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT THE RUTH STRAUSS FOUNDATION BELOW
Ruth was diagnosed with a non-smoking related lung cancer during the Ashes campaign in December 2017 and died a year later on December 29, 2018.
In her memory, Andrew launched the Ruth Strauss Foundation to fund research in to rare lung cancers and support patients and families.
At the time of her death, her husband promised the foundation would be established and sought advice from former Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath who established the McGrath Foundation in honour of his wife Jane who died of breast cancer 11 years ago.
"Ruth desperately wanted to help those affected by this terrible disease and we will be launching a foundation in due course to raise much needed funds to aid research and also to offer support to patients and their families," Mr Strauss said in a statement soon after his wife's death.
Similar to the McGrath Foundation, for which the third day of the first test at the SCG is nominated the Jane McGrath Day and pink is everywhere, the second day of the second Ashes Test at Lord's has been named the Ruth Strauss Foundation Day with red the colour in aid of the charity.
Strauss himself played in a Pink Test as England captain in the 2010-11 Ashes campaign.
Have you signed up to The Courier's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.
