The Lord’s Cricket Ground in England, also known as the ‘Home of Cricket’ is set to host several fixtures in 2025. They will host the third ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final in and a test match between India and England in 2025. But, they are facing new criticism after the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which manages Lord’s Cricket Ground announced higher ticket prices for the next year’s fixtures. They have already faced criticism during the recently concluded Sri Lanka vs England fixture as there were quite a few seats left during the match.
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Today, we will see what are the prices for next year’s fixtures at Lord’s Cricket Ground,. We will also see what did the MCC Chief Secretary and Executive has to say on this. So let’s dive into it quickly.
WTC 2025 MCC announced higher ticket prices for next year’s fixture at Lord’s Cricket Ground
The Lord’s Cricket Ground is an iconic cricket ground in London, known for hosting some interesting matches in the past. We have seen so many iconic moments, matches, and performances at this ground over time. Now, the venue is set to host several fixtures in 2025. They will host the ICC WTC 2025 final and one of the test matches from next year’s India-England 5-match series.
The fans wanted to see how things unfold in those games. In England, the fans are very much passionate about test cricket and come in good numbers to see the longest format. But, the MCC, which manages the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground has announced the hike in ticket prices for those fixtures WTC 2025 .
The venue is facing harsh criticism for its ticket pricing strategy, especially in light of the low attendance during the last rounds of the games against Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
Ticket pricing structure for WTC 2025 Final and India-England test
Tickets for the fourth day of India’s match next year start at £50 (Rs 5,500) for restricted views and rise to £150 (Rs 16,700). For the first three days of the match, the tickets will cost 90 euros for restricted view tickets and 175 euros. Tickets for accessibility are priced at 120 euros.
Considering the test matches generally finish early nowadays, the MCC adjusted the ticket for the fourth day a bit downward. Tickets for under-16s are £25 (Rs 2,700).
As far as the highly-anticipated ICC (International Cricket Council) WTC 2025, it will commence on June 11 at Lord’s. Adult tickets for the WTC final will be priced between £70 and £130 (about Rs. 8,000–14,500). For under-16s, the tickets will cost between £20-£50 (about Rs. 2,200–5,500).
It appears that they made this change to prevent the vacant seats observed during the Sri Lanka series.
What did the MCC Chief Secretary and Executive have to say on this?
The MCC Chief Secretary and Executive, Guy Lavender has its say on this ticket pricing structure. He said the MCC will review its ticket pricing strategy, especially for the fourth and fifth day of a test match. Lavender also talked about the group discount on day four and a less amount of tickets for the Under 16.
“Given the current format of Test cricket, we will be closely examining the fourth-day ticket structure in our pricing revisions. We offered a group discount for day four and priced U16 tickets at just £15 for the weekend days of our Test matches right away.” – Guy Lavender said in a statement (Quoted by us).
Lavender also talked about the difficulties in adjusting pricing. He said – “Dynamically discounting tickets in hindsight is difficult because thousands of supporters have already applied through our 2023 ballot process and paid the full price.” (Quoted by us).
Lord’s already faced criticism during the England-Sri Lanka fixture
Less than 10,000 spectators attended the fourth day of the Sri Lanka Test last month, even though the match continued into the last session, and MCC was already under fire for overcharging for tickets.
That day’s ticket prices ranged from £115 (about Rs 12,800) to £140 (around Rs 15,600). Ollie Pope, England’s stand-in captain, expressed his disappointment with the low attendance, despite a weekend. Pope said he hoped more kids and families would take an interest in the sport.
Conclusion
So, the latest development reveals that next year’s fixtures at Lord’s Cricket Ground will come with higher ticket prices. The MCC must look at this matter closely and try to come up with a solution that helps both, the venue and the fans. It will be interesting to see how they go about their business. The WTC 2025 final will commence on June 11. Just like in the last two WTC finals, the ICC has allotted a reserve day for the WTC 2025 final as well. India is the front-runner to reach the WTC 2025 final along with Australia. The other teams are also in the race, but these two teams are in the top 2 at the current WTC 2025 points table. It will also be interesting to see a test
match between India and England as well. India is a very good test side and England also has a very good record at home.
FAQs:-
(1) Who hosted the ICC WTC 2021 and 2023 Finals?
Rose Bowl, Southampton hosted the ICC WTC 2021 final. New Zealand won the final against India. As far as the WTC 2023 final, The Oval, London hosted the fixture between India and Australia. Australia won the final by 209 runs.
(2) When did the inaugural match take place at Lord’s Cricket Ground?
Lord’s hosted its first-ever test match in 1884 between England and Australia. England won that match by an inning and 5 runs.
(3) Which team has scored the most runs in an inning at Lord’s?
Australia scored the highest total at Lord’s in 1930. They scored 729 for 6 and declared against the arch-rivals England.
(4) What’s the highest total by an individual batter at Lord’s?
Graham Gooch scored 333 runs against India in 1990, marking the highest individual score at Lord’s Cricket Ground.
