Test ticket prices should be reviewed, says captain
Ben Stokes has called for a review of Test ticket pricing in the wake of Lord’s being left with thousands of empty seats for the visit of New Zealand this week.
Around 16,000 seats remained unsold on Tuesday night for the opening four days of the first Test, Stokes’s first as England’s red-ball captain – an unprecedented situation for the ground in recent years.
Ticket prices of up to £160, and the slim availability of concessions, has been heavily criticised, with former England captain Michael Vaughan calling for a rethink of Lord’s being granted two Tests per summer if it fails to act. Veteran bowler Stuart Broad has also suggested the sport should rethink its policy as the country struggles with the cost-of-living crisis.
Stokes echoed those concerns when addressing the media for his pre-match press conference.
“Ticket prices is something that I think is going to have to be looked at properly,” he said. “What is cricket without its fans, and what is sport without its fans? We want to be attracting people to come and watch us because of the cricket that we play and how successful we are, but I guess you have to look at how much it’s going to cost someone to get into the ground.
“One thing that we have always received, as an England cricket team, is amazing support. Obviously, the Barmy Army are well renowned but even those who don’t associate themselves with any supporters’ group are just fantastic. I don’t set the prices but I think it does need to be looked at.”
MCC defended its pricing policy, saying it believed that the pricing represented “good value to watch top-class international cricket at one of the world’s most iconic venues”.