Cricket’s working-class cold shoulder
Prices to the dying embers of Test matches this summer have shown that maybe the ECB isn’t all that keen to grow the game in the end
The English Test match summer is over, and the next red ball matches will see Brendon McCullum’s side travel to Pakistan in October. England defeated Sri Lanka 2–1, wrapping up a five-out-of-six win record across the summer. This second series of the summer was a trickier prospect than the first- and one that highlights an issue in English cricket.
The final two Tests of the summer took place at Lord’s and then at The Oval. London’s two premier cricket grounds have hosted some of the most special moments in the game. Day four at Lord’s saw Gus Atkinson claim his third five-wicket haul of the summer as England wrapped up a huge 190-run win. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the famous old stadium was barely half full.
Rows of seats were empty as Atkinson ripped through the Sri Lankan resistance. The winning moment in a Test match should have been savoured, but due to the ticket prices for the Sunday play being eye-watering, many fans opted to stay away and likely follow through TV or radio.
The cheapest adult ticket for this final day of play was reportedly £95. There was almost a full day of play, but the eye-watering price understandably kept many fans away. This was an opportunity for the ECB and Lord’s to provide affordable tickets and to open up the chance to see live Test cricket to a wider audience. In turn, they would have filled Lord’s, and England’s victory could have been given the full house send-off it deserved.
Yet instead, this opportunity was squandered by those in charge and showed that money is more important than the sacrifice of people enjoying a chance to watch England play Test cricket. One week it was Lord’s who missed this opportunity, the next it was The Oval.
Sri Lanka were deserved winners of the final Test of the English summer, chasing down England’s modest target with relative comfort. The ground followed the stance of Lord’s and priced the cheapest adult ticket at £85. The final day of the match at The Oval lasted just two hours as the tourists got the job done in one session.
The final two Test matches of the summer ended in front of half-empty venues. It was a one-sided summer in terms of results, and the opposition was far from the strongest to come to England in recent years. But this shouldn’t have any impact on the way ticketing is done, and if anything it should mean that tickets are more affordable.
This summer was the perfect chance to grow the game and to give fans old and new who didn’t want to/ were unable to pay eye-watering amounts for a final day of Test cricket the chance to see their country play. Instead, the greed of those at the top of the sport and cricket’s financial and class divides were shown to still very much remain.
Cricket is going through somewhat of a culture shock at the moment. The Hundred is despised by many fans, but for its negatives, it does have positives. County cricket is still there for supporters wanting to get into the sport, and that needs the backing of bums on seats more than Test cricket does at this point, but having an affordable chance to watch England play should be available to anyone who wants it. By not doing this, the ECB is keeping cricket out of reach up its elitist ivory tower.
