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It’s not just about cricket for England’s first Test against New Zealand at Lord's, it's about far more. Each year the thousands of spectators, players, partners, and sponsors turn up in red to remember Ruth Strauss, and support Ruth Strauss Foundation.

It has become an integral and highly emotional day in English cricket, and continues to grow year on year.

Ruth Strauss, or Ruth McDonald as was her maiden name, was wife of the former England captain, Andrew Strauss. Originally born in Australia, she had been an actress prior to her business career. She and her husband met in the early days of his cricket career while he was playing in Sydney and Adelaide.

The two got married in October 2003 and went on to have two sons, Sam and Luca. Ruth passed away on 29 December 2018 aged 46 after contracting an extremely rare form of lung cancer.

After her death, Andrew Strauss founded the Ruth Strauss Foundation.

The main objective of the charity is to help families going through difficult times while also financing a much-needed increase into research for rare forms of lung cancer. His inspiration for the cause came from Australian fast bowler, Glenn McGrath, whose wife Jane McGrath passed away from cancer in 2008.

The McGrath Foundation had already been established by Glenn and his family in Australia as they struggled with the issue of people affected by cancer. In Australia they have Jane McGrath Day where everyone wears pink.

Andrew Strauss, on the other hand, decided to bring this special occasion over to England to celebrate the memory of his wife.

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Consequently the second day of a major Test match at Lord's turned into a Ruth Strauss Foundation Day.

Spectators, players and officials all wear red clothes, red caps and particular shirts which have the foundation's logo on. During one of the early fundraising events, the supporters raised an amount of 382,462 pounds.

The convention has now passed through a few of England Test series in games against West Indies, India, South Africa and now New Zealand.

However, in a tribute to Ruth Strauss the annual event has become one of the greatest occasions in cricket. The red wave takes place every year as the cricketing world come together to celebrate the memory of Ruth, help support those families with cancer and acknowledge a cause which is crucial.

However, even though it is important for action to be seen on the field, it is the cause that people are recognizing in red caps and shirts that really matters.