England team draws portraits for charity

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Joe Root’s portrait of Monty Panesar

England batsman Joe Root’s sketch of fellow teammate Monty Panesar has attracted the highest bid as sketch portraits drawn by England cricket team went on auction for charity on eBay on Friday morning.

The England men’s and women’s cricket teams have sketched portraits of teammates to raise money for charity as part of the “Cricket United” appeal.
Panesar’s portrait by Root, who took Art at A-Levels, got eight bids and the highest bid was £200 as the auction of the original portraits by the men’s team launched on Friday. The auction will last for 10 days and end at 1 pm BST on August 4. The base price for each portrait is £35 and there are 19 portraits on sale in the auction.
South African-born England cricketer Nick Compton also sketched a portrait of Panesar, who too has sketched a portrait of the batsman, who made his international Test debut against India. However, both their portraits have not attracted any bids as yet.
The camaraderie between bowlers James Anderson and Graeme Swann has been revealed in humorous doodles of each other. However, the sketch of Anderson by team captain Alastair Cook has attracted 11 bids already, with the highest at £160. Even Anderson’s sketch by Swann attracted nine bids with the highest being £101. In turn, Swann’s portrait by Anderson is currently available at £82 after seven bids.
Batsman Ian Bell’s art work consists of a simple stick man to represent bowler Steven Finn, but Finn in turn has drawn Kevin Pietersen circa 2005, complete with his now infamous “skunk” haircut. Bell’s stick figure has reached £46 after four bids and Pietersen’s portrait is yet to attract any bids.
The range of portraits does not mean that England cricketers are taking art seriously. “Rest assured, we won’t be giving up our day jobs,” skipper Cook said, adding that “it’s a bit of fun and the lads enjoyed doing something completely different for charity.”
The portraits by England women’s cricket team will be auctioned during their Ashes Test match in Buckinghamshire 11-14 August.
The funds raised from the auction will help three cricket charities - the Lord’s Taverners, Chance to Shine and the PCA Benevolent Fund.
The United Kingdom will mark Cricket United Day, its biggest ever cricket awareness day, on August 23, the third day of the fifth Test in the Ashes series.