Second day of Oval Test called off following passing of Queen Elizabeth II

The four matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy which were also slated for Friday have been postponed

The second day's play between England and South Africa at the Kia Oval has been called off as a mark of respect to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The Queen passed away at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Thursday, and a period of national mourning is expected to follow.

The ECB confirmed on Thursday evening that there would be no play on Friday at the Oval, where rain had wiped out the entirety of the first day's scheduled action.

It is not currently clear whether an additional day will be added to the game, or even if the match could be called off in its entirety, with further decisions expected in the coming hours.

The four matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy which were also slated for Friday have been postponed. There is at present no indication of when they will be rearranged for.

^{Queen Elizabeth was a regular attendee at Lord's Test matches (Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)}

The Queen has always been a friend of cricket, even if horse racing was her first love.

She attended 26 Lord's Tests in her 70 years of sovereignty, shaking hands with the England and touring sides, and visited the ground seven other times. Her first Test was against South Africa in 1947.

Another of those matches was the Jubilee Test between England and Australia in 1977, celebrating 25 years of her reign. Australia's Dennis Lillee was as cheeky as you'd expect, asking for her autograph. She sent him a signed photograph instead.

It was generally not the done thing to speak to her, but a few others memorably went off piste. Pat Pocock is said to have asked her if she liked football. Phil Edmonds praised her sartorial sense, saying red was also his favourite colour.

She was also said to have a good chat with Andrew Flintoff in 2004. She liked a spot of recreational cricket. She would watch club games on her Windsor estate, parking up the Land Rover at about 4pm.

She wrote to the England team wishing them luck ahead of the 2019 World Cup final with New Zealand, having hosted all 10 captains ahead of the tournament.

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