The Queen is joined by Harry, Beatrice and Eugenie to host team captains ahead of Cricket World Cup at Buckingham Palace garden party

Robert Jobson29 May 2019

Prince Harry revived 140 years of English and Australian cricket rivalry today when he joked Aussie captain Aaron Finch might be getting a bit long in the tooth.

The Duke of Sussex joined the Queen in welcoming the captains of the 10 competing nations in the ICC Cricket World Cup to Buckingham Palace on the eve of the start of the competition and he immediately put the skipper of the reigning world champions on the back foot.

"You’re getting on a bit now, aren’t you? How old are you?" he asked Finch, 32, as England captain Eoin Morgan stifled a giggle. "How long have you been playing?"

The Australian captain took it in good spirits and told the sixth in line to the throne he had been playing for eight years at the highest level.

ICC Cricket World Cup garden party

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Harry, 34, asked him who the favourites were to win the competition this time and he put the pressure back on Morgan, saying: "England and India."

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Sussex meet guests during a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace
PA

But New Zealand captain Kane Williamson told him: "There are heaps of competitive teams this year. Anybody could win."

Queen Elizabeth II meets guests during a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in London
PA

The 20-minute reception in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace was a chance for Harry to meet someone whose following on social media makes him an even bigger international star than him and Meghan.

The Sussexes have quickly amassed 8.4 million followers on Instagram in two months but Virat Kohli, the Indian captain, has 100 million followers on social media - 29.4 million on Twitter, 37.1 million on Facebook, and 33.6 million on Instagram.

Queen Elizabeth II meets England cricket captain Eoin Morgan (second right), Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib (left), Australia captain Aaron Finch (second left), Bangladesh captain Masrafe Bin Mortaza (third left) and India captain Virat Kohli (right).
PA

Harry also met South African captain Faf du Plessis and they talked about their game against England on Thursday.. "I’m there," said the Duke, but when the South African asked him whether he would be back to watch more matches Harry said: "We’ll see what happens."

Du Plessis, 34, was wearing a South African scarf and Harry, pointing to crowds outside waiting in the rain for a palace garden party to start, teased him, saying: "It’s not that cold out there."

He was joined by the Queen for the last 10 minutes. She surveyed the star players gathered in the room and observed: "Interesting collection", before apologising for the rain and asking them if they had played in England before.

Prince Harry, greets Bangladesh cricket captain Masrafe Bin Mortaza (2L), England captain Eoin Morgan (C) and India captain Virat Kohli 
Getty Images

"Because you do do quite a bit of travelling all the time, don’t you?" she asked.

The 93-year-old monarch posed for a picture with the skippers from the 10 countries, all but Afghanistan Commonwealth counties.

"Are you coming out to the garden party?" she asked. "I hope you don’t get too wet. Try some tea."

The plan was for them to gather in the diplomatic tent but in the event, perhaps after taking a look at the leaden skies above, the team captains decided they needed to be elsewhere and soon left the palace.

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