CNN: England cricketer Steven Davies -- the sport's first professional to come out as gay -- says he wants to support other sports personalities struggling with their sexuality. Davies, 24, a wicketkeeper-batsman with county side Surrey who has played in a string of limited-overs internationals for England, revealed his long-held secret earlier this week. "For me it really isn't a big issue, it's something I was comfortable to do," he told CNN. "I'd been thinking about doing it for a while. I'm really relieved to get it off my chest. "Doubts do go through your head, it's only natural... but I was really comfortable with who I am, I was ready to do it, I needed to do it... and I felt the time was right." Davies hopes England can win World Cup Despite the groundbreaking nature of his revelations, the sportsman said he did not regard himself as a pioneer, but simply wanted to help others in similar situations. He said the decision of Welsh international rugby player Gareth Thomas to reveal he was gay had helped him to take the same step. "It's a very personal matter, and everyone is different, but it is important to have people to look up to and the Gareth Thomas story proved that it can be done, it made it a little easier for me" (Cricketer offers help to other gay sportsmen).
Steven Michael Davies (born 17 June 1986 in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire) is an English cricketer, a wicket-keeper-batsman who currently plays for Surrey. A stylish and aggressive left-handed batsman who can open the batting in both first-class and limited-overs cricket (though in the former he generally now bats in the middle order). He has played ODI and Twenty20 cricket for England. Davies is the first openly gay international cricket player. Davies is openly gay. He came out publicly on 27 February 2011 in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. He had come out to his family five years earlier, and he was also already out to his teammates. He became the first international cricketer to announce his homosexuality (Wikipedia: Steven Davies).
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