The MCC are set to review their pricing structure for Test ticket sales after disappointing crowd turnouts across the second England-Sri Lanka Test at Lord's.
The size of the fourth day crowd was particularly disappointing with Test Match Special commentator Jonathan Agnew describing the ground as "virtually deserted", confirming pre-match concerns over ticket sales.
On Wednesday evening, the Telegraph reported that just 7,000 tickets were sold for day four – well below half of the ground's capacity. Several pundits and fans alike pointed to the price of tickets – the cheapest available day four tickets were priced at £95 – as potentially being prohibitive for prospective punters.
Speaking on Test Match Special, Agnew said. "There are times administrators need to give Test cricket a bit of a leg-up, a bit of help. There's no point people banging on about Test cricket and how wonderful it is when this is the scene. If the Home of Cricket on a day like this is virtually deserted, then what's the message?"
The MCC released a statement on the disappointing crowd numbers during the fourth and final day's play, acknowledging the need to review their current pricing structure. "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," said the MCC's chief executive Guy Lavender.
“Sales were slower for the fourth day of this match than v West Indies likely in part to England’s dominant performance at Lord’s earlier this summer, and this Test being later than normal at the end of the school holidays.
“Earlier this year, we sold out the opening four days of the England v West Indies match and were close to doing so for the first three days of this match. From the outset we priced Under-16 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.”
