Empty Seats At Lord’s For ENG-SL Test Causes Panic; MCC To Review Prices

Empty Lord’s Stadium- (X.com)

The 2nd Test between England and Sri Lanka concluded on September 1 as the Three Lions registered a comfortable 190-runs win to seal the series 2-0 with a game still left to play. 

The Lord’s game, similar to the first Test, ended in four days. Even after the play ended on day 3, there was a slight hint that the match might not go to day 5, as Sri Lanka were 53/2. As expected, the visitors were reduced to 292 runs, resulting in a big win for the Three Lions. 

However, unusual scenes occurred at Lord’s as only 9000 fans turned up to watch the game on day 4 despite the capacity being 31,000. It is a dangerous sign for Test cricket, and it has triggered a panic button.

MCC To Review Prices For Test Matches

Meanwhile, MCC is all set to intervene in the matter and stated that they would review the prices for the fourth day of play in Test cricket as nowadays, a Test match ends by the fourth day. 

“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.

Gus Atkinson Stars For England Against Sri Lanka

Gus Atkinson loves to play at the Lord’s as he even made his Test debut here against the West Indies and registered a five-wicket haul in both innings. Further, in the recently concluded match, Atkinson took another fifer to restrict Sri Lanka to 292 runs.