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The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) will review the current ticket prices in place at Lord's Cricket Ground after England's second Test triumph over Sri Lanka was met with a meek turnout. Only 9,000 fans attended the proceedings in the 31,000-capacity venue on the penultimate day of the contest to witness the hosts secure the series with a game to spare.
As reported earlier by the Telegraph, there were concerns regarding the ticket sales at Lord's during the build-up to the contest. The venue was only able to sell 7,000 seats for Day 4, given early finishes in the Bazball era being a common theme.
The fate of the second Test was more or less sealed after Day 3 as Sri Lanka were reduced to 53-2 in pursuit of a mammoth 483-run target. England wrapped up the game along expected lines with Gus Atkinson picking up yet another five-wicket haul at the 'Home of Cricket'.
Several stands were completely empty and closed for the day's play and the MCC plans to introduce measures to combat the issue.
“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. 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," MCC chief secretary and executive Guy Lavender said in a statement.
Much like Lord's, the Oval is also struggling to sell its seats for the latter stages of the third Test in the series. The affair is already a dead rubber with England securing a 2-0 lead to continue their prolific home season.
"It’s a shame that it wasn’t full" - England captain Ollie Pope on Lord's turnout on Day 4
England skipper Ollie Pope also noted the glaringly low turnout at the iconic venue which arguably dampened the team's spirit following a dominant win. He opined that saturation might have been the reason behind it with matches being held regularly at the venue of late across formats.
“A few of us have been strolling in each day and it was just like, ‘jeez, it seems quiet today’. It was kind of weird," Pope said after the 190-run win at Lord's.
“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,” the stand-in skipper added.
The third Test between England and Sri Lanka is scheduled to begin from September 6 onwards.
