Sydney: Sydney: England, at 488 for seven, at the stumps on the third day, were not the only ones in the pink, as the fifth and final
Ashes Test celebrated "Jane McGrath Day" at the Sydney Cricket Ground today.
The famous cricket arena was transformed into a sea of pink for the third year in support of funding for breast-cancer research and in memory of the late Jane McGrath, wife of Australian fast bowler, Glenn McGrath.
The vast majority of the 40,000 spectators at the SCG stood for the cause, wearing pink shirts, skirts, bandanas, wigs and pink zinc facial cream. The stumps, the scoreboard and the sponsor signs were all in pink. The Australian players wore pink shoelaces and the English team signed pink caps to be auctioned for the charity. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard also got into the spirit and wore a pink shirt.
Jane McGrath, whose death from breast cancer gave rise to The McGrath Foundation charity, was remembered with a huge pink banner unfurled on the field before the start of play.
The charity has raised over one million USD from similar days at the SCG over the past three years. In that time, its number of breast-care nurses in the Australian community has risen from four to 61, boosted by a federal government grant.