Lord's struggling to sell tickets for 2nd 2024 ENG vs SL Test; only 7,000 seats sold for Day 4 so far
England are finding it difficult to attract visitors at Lord's for the upcoming second Test against Sri Lanka, particularly for the latter half of the contest, despite it coinciding with the weekend. Their positive brand of cricket has inevitably led to earlier finishes of late, which is making fans skeptical of purchasing tickets for the final set of days.
Ticket sales for the first three days are not too optimistic either. While only 7,000 seats are sold for Day 4, there are close to 6,000 seats still up for grabs when it comes to the opening set of days. All of these numbers pale in comparison to the official maximum capacity of the 'Home of Cricket', which reads at 31,180.
The last Test hosted at Lord's was the home season opener for England which came against the West Indies. The clash was wrapped up inside three days as the hosts won by an innings and 114 runs. The venue has hosted The Hundred in the meanwhile, including the finals, which saw a positive turnout.
“Across the first three days of the Test match against Sri Lanka, we’re delighted that Lord’s will be near to capacity, closely matching the sell-out against West Indies in July. The sales throughout the summer of 2024 have been the best outside an Ashes year,” an MCC spokesman told The Telegraph.
“Day four has been slower, likely in part to England’s dominant performance here earlier this summer," the spokesman added.
Tickets for the upcoming ODI against Australia have already been sold out at Lord's. The next summer will witness the 'Home of Cricket' play host to two high-profile clashes. Firstly, the World Test Championship (WTC) final, and then the clash between India and England, which marks the first series in the next WTC cycle.
The Oval also struggling like Lord's to sell out tickets for Day 4 of the third ENG vs SL Test
A similar situation is transpiring in the other primary venue in London, The Oval. The venue is nearly sold out for the first three days of the series finale against Sri Lanka, but is struggling with ticket sales for the remaining days.
The third Test between England and Sri Lanka is scheduled to begin from September 6 onwards. The hosts currently lead the series 1-0 under Ollie Pope's captaincy in Ben Stokes' absence.