MCC will review its ticket policy after just 9,000 fans attended the fourth day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s to watch England close out a 190-run victory and seal the series with a game to spare.
As Telegraph Sport reported on Thursday, only some 7,000 tickets had been sold for day four in advance of the Test. With Sri Lanka 53 for two at the close on day three, and with no realistic prospect of chasing their target of 483 runs to win, Lord’s sold only a further 2,000 tickets during the game for day four, and as a result a number of stands were closed on Sunday.
“We will be paying particular attention to the structure of fourth-day tickets in our pricing reviews given the way that Test cricket is now being played,” Guy Lavender, the chief executive and secretary of MCC, said in a statement.
“From the outset we priced U16 tickets at just £15 for weekend days of our Test matches and introduced a group discount for day four. It is difficult to dynamically discount tickets in hindsight when thousands of supporters have applied through our 2023 ballot process and paid the full price.’’
In July, the fourth day’s play of the opening Test against West Indies was sold out. Lavender said that a combination of the Test against Sri Lanka taking place “at the end of the school holidays”, and England’s crushing victory over West Indies – winning before lunch on the third day – had put off fans buying a fourth-day ticket. Walk-up spectators may also have been more likely to attend if there were a chance to watch England bat.
Stand-in Test captain Ollie Pope said that it was “weird” to see so many empty seats at the weekend at Lord’s.
“A few of us have been strolling in each day and it was just like, ‘jeez, it seems quiet today’,” Pope said. “It was kind of weird.
“I’m not sure if people expected the game to be done by day four or not. So it’s a shame that it wasn’t full. But at the same time, it’s been a pretty heavy schedule this summer with, I guess, the Hundred, T20 Blast and a lot of Test matches. So, yeah, a shame it wasn’t a full house because it was obviously a good day’s play.”
‘Form comes and goes’
Pope has led England to victories in his first two Tests as captain, but he has only scored 30 runs at an average of 7.5 in the series and he admitted to being below his best form.
“I’m not going to hide behind the fact I’ve had two poor games with the bat,” he said. “That’s the way cricket is sometimes. I think form comes and goes but the best players are the ones who can draw a line under it, have a fresh start next week, and hopefully I can put a score together.
“Form is something that comes and goes, sometimes batting can feel a lot easier and other times it’s just harder to come by the runs. For me, it’s probably not overthinking it, keep training hard and go into the next game with a fresh start.”
Pope said that he was trying to block out the criticism he has faced, including from Telegraph Sport columnist and former England captain Michael Vaughan.
“It’s just important to block it out, to be honest, and keep staying close with the people around you,” Pope said. “There’s a lot of voices, a lot of guys who want to have their say, some past cricketers as well.
“Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. But it’s important for us as a team, and me, to keep trusting the people in the four walls.
“Sometimes when you have two bad games, then it can almost feel a lot worse than it is because of the noise that’s around it. For me, it’s just trying to stay as level as I can and keep trusting the people around me, put my work in and not really overthink it.”
England are targeting a clean sweep this summer, with the final Test against Sri Lanka on Friday. If they win every home Test in the season it will be the first time they have achieved the feat since 2004.
“It would be a pretty cool thing to look back on after a summer of six Tests and having won them all, if we can do it,” Pope said. “We’ve played some really good cricket throughout this summer. We had a tough winter away in India where the results weren’t what we wanted, so to get used to winning games back-to-back is really pleasing for us.”
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