Surrey cricketer Steven Davies has one of his heroes to thank for coming out as gay, and this time it isn't a fellow athlete. The former England One Day International wicket keeper says that his friend and gay icon Sir Elton John stopped him from quitting cricket as he dealt with the fact he was a homosexual. Davies came out to his family five years prior to publicly doing so, and was already out to his England and Surrey team mates and is still the only international cricketer to date to have came out about his sexuality. We often think about how the individual feels after coming out and we only tend to hear from the fans point of view, but England team mate Ian Bell stepped up and supported Davies shortly after he came out to make sure that he would never be looked at differently and that he is still a cricketer like the rest of the squad:
"We knew before the Ashes series. That didn't change anything for us. "He is a very popular guy in our team. We are all behind him. As a guy, he is a fantastic cricketer and that is what we see him as. He is a massive important person in our team going forward. "He is a very talented cricketer, like I said. As a mate as well, we're all with him, and the more cricket he can play for England the better." (Telegraph)
Similar to in football, Davies can't be the only gay cricketer, but remains the only one to have took the decision to reveal his true identity to the rest of the world, and hopefully he wont be the last.
Joseph is a sports journalist, who has previously worked for Sky Sports News, Soccer Saturday, UEFA's coverage of the Champions League and Europa League and The London 2012 Olympic Games, as well as football clubs such as FC Halifax Town, Corby Town and Crystal Palace FC.
