England players wearing black armbands (screengrab)

England players were seen wearing black armbands on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s, a special tribute to former cricketers who have passed away since the team’s last home international.Before the start of the game on Thursday, a moment of silence was observed before the national anthem, with players from both sides joining in to pay their respects. The black armband was worn in memory of several former England cricketers, including Kane Shuttleworth, John Jamieson, Barry Knight, Robin Smith, Hugh Morris, Norman Gifford, Eric Russell, Tony Piggott and MJK Smith.The emotional pre-match ceremony also included a tribute to New Zealand great Martin Crowe, marking 10 years since his death. Crowe is one of the most influential figures in New Zealand Cricket History, and the Lord’s multitudes, warmly accepted his legacy. His daughter Emma Crowe rang the traditional five-minute bell before the start of the Test, to applause around the ground.Once the commemorations were over, the focus turned to cricket as New Zealand captain Tom Latham won the toss and elected to bowl in partly cloudy conditions.The visitors fielded a strong pace attack led by Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke. Jamieson and O’Rourke, both fast bowlers standing at least 1.97 metres, are playing together in a Test for the first time after recovering from long-term back injuries. Nathan Smith, who impressed with eight wickets against Ireland in the recent warm-up match, completed the seam-heavy attack, while Glenn Phillips was preferred over Mitchell Santner.England handed a debut to Durham opening batsman Emilio Gay, who recently represented Italy in T20 Internationals. The hosts also missed Ollie Robinson, whose last Test appearance came in 2024. Robinson joins captain Ben Stokes, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue in the pace department.The Lord’s Test is England’s first red-ball outing since the 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia earlier this year, adding extra significance to the start of the series.