The tennis legend was emotional in her on-court remarks to the crowd, saying it had been an "interesting" week
Adil Rashid is set to miss England’s white-ball series against India after being given clearance by cricket chiefs to make a holy pilgrimage to Mecca.
One of the five pillars of Islam, the Hajj is meant to be undertaken by all Muslims who are able and have the means at least once in their lives.
It consists of a series of religious rites that are completed over five days in Islam’s holiest city, Mecca, and surrounding areas of western Saudi Arabia.
Rashid has so far found it difficult to make the journey because of his cricket commitments, but the 34-year-old leg-spinner, who will be travelling with his wife, has been given the all-clear to head to Saudi Arabia this weekend by both county club Yorkshire and the England and Wales Cricket Board.
It means he will miss part of Yorkshire’s domestic Twenty20 Blast campaign as well as England’s upcoming T20 and one-day international matches at home to India.
“I’ve been wanting to do it for a little while, but I’ve found it pretty difficult with the timings,” Rashid told the ESPNcricinfo website. “This year, I felt as though it was something that I had to do, and something I wanted to do as well.
“I spoke to the ECB and to Yorkshire about it and they were very understanding and encouraging, like: ‘Yep, you do what you’ve got to do and then come back when you can’.
He added: “Me and the missus are going and I’ll be there for a couple of weeks. It’s a massive moment: each faith has got their own different thing but for Islam and being a Muslim, this is one of the biggest ones.
“It’s a big thing for my faith and for myself. I knew that I needed to do it while I’m young and strong and healthy. This is something that I really committed to myself that I would do.”
Saudi authorities are preparing to welcome 850,000 Muslims from abroad for the annual hajj after two years during which pilgrims not already in the kingdom were barred because of coronavirus restrictions.
The tennis legend was emotional in her on-court remarks to the crowd, saying it had been an "interesting" week
The 28-year old climber is the current Austrian road race and time-trial champion and holds six professional victories to his name
Boult has taken 317 wickets for New Zealand in 78 Test matches, 62 wickets in Twenty20 cricket and is top of the one-day international bowling rankings
The Qualifiers involving UAE, Kuwait, Hong Kong and Singapore will be hosted by Oman from August 20 to 24
The hosts will now play Ecuador on November 20, 24 hours earlier than planned
The team will be based in Abu Dhabi
Men's team wins bronze in open section
His wife seeks compensation for snapshots of his corpse that were circulated after the helicopter accident