A few empty seats should not be any reason for mass panic
It Is not as if Lord’s is going to be half-empty at the start of tomorrow’s first test against New Zealand and throughout the Bank Holiday weekend.
there may be around 1,000 empty seats on the first day in a ground that now holds 31,600. And, as it stands, anyone fancying a day at the cricket on sunday should be able to get in quite easily. But this is hardly the public turning their back on the home of cricket and tests in general. ticket sales are good for the other test at Lord’s this summer, against south Africa, and the first three days of next week’s second test at trent Bridge are sold out, as are the first three days of the one-off test against India at Edgbaston. Yes, test cricket at Lord’s is expensive but so is Premier League football, international rugby and West End theatre. And the unsold seats might have something to do with England’s run of one win in 17 tests. Certainly, suggestions of an embarrassment for Lord’s and red faces at the MCC are exaggerated, especially with so much going on in London this weekend and the threat of a tube strike. stuart Broad gave a measured response yesterday, just as former England captain Michael Vaughan was going a little over the top in suggesting that two tests per summer at Lord’s should be reviewed. It remains, however many empty seats there are this week, the best supported venue for test cricket in the world and the ECB should consider reducing the games played there at their peril. ‘I suppose it’s comparable with twickenham and Wembley,’ said Broad. ‘there’s a market value and there’s a lot going on this weekend, with the Queen’s Jubilee and the Bank Holiday and a lot of competition for entertainment in London. ‘A better guide is how it looks when we play south Africa in August. We’ve been incredibly supported in home test cricket throughout my career and we want that to continue. I’m sure ticket prices will be adjusted to reflect the cost of living.’ there lies the rub. Adult tickets for the first three days at Lord’s range from £50 to £160, and restricted view seats range from £45 to £100. It is the top end of that scale that needs to be looked at in such difficult times. Just as long as England really do look to play an enterprising style of test cricket under Ben stokes and Brendon McCullum. And the players are not taken off by the umpires for bad light while the floodlights shine down on Lord’s. Now that really would be embarrassing…
l ENGLAND demonstrated they are prioritising Test cricket yesterday when they named a weakened one-day squad to visit Holland later this month. It included two uncapped players, Lancashire’s Luke Wood and Gloucestershire’s David Payne, but there was one notable absentee. Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke is left out, England insist, for cricketing reasons rather than the controversy that has overshadowed him since his involvement in the court case that led to former Worcestershire team-mate Alex Hepburn being jailed for rape five years ago. ENGLAND SQUAD (to face Holland in Amsterdam on June 17, 19 and 22): Morgan (capt), Ali, Buttler (wkt), Carse, S Curran, Livingstone, Malan, Payne, Rashid, Roy, Salt, Topley, Willey, L Wood.