[Cricket] Cricket- 2nd Test, Lords, August 29 - September 2nd, 2024, Sri Lanka tour of England

[Beach Hut]

118/7

 

[jakarta]

145-7, SL just not the Test side they were a few years back...

 

[A1X]

Sri Lanka 196 all out, England lead by 231

 

[pasty]

That took a while. Still. Good lead to win this.

 

[Eeyore]

I should imagine folks with tickets for the fourth day would be pleased there is no follow on.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Will The Pope reach double figures?

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Pope's 50+ average for Surrey feels like a horrible indictment of the standard of bowling in county cricket.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Shockingly bad crowd for a Lord's test today.

 

[A1X]

Shockingly bad crowd for a Lord's test today.

Almost like charging £125 for a ticket isn’t a sustainable option, especially given the prices of food / transport etc on top

For example, I went yesterday and the train ticket (a travel card from Haywards Heath) was cheaper than anything I bought at Lord’s (burger, pint, ice cream), when the train ticket is the cheapest part of the day then something’s wrong

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Almost like charging £125 for a ticket isn’t a sustainable option, especially given the prices of food / transport etc on top

Saw something like £95 quoted as the cheapest for today in some tweet somewhere. Still ridiculous for the 4th day, at Edgbaston and Headingley I've paid about £25 for the fourth in recent years.

I just had a look on the Lord's website and they've dropped it down to £15 for the evening session, so still only just under what you'd pay for a full day of championship cricket.

Also, with regard to the actual cricket, I wonder just how bad all the other England players must be at slip given Root's been pretty indifferent there for years now.

Another wicket for Atkinson as I was about to press post

 

[fly high]

Another wicket for Atkinson as I was about to press post

Another 5 for, for him, on the board again at Lords.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

When I wagered this POUND, I wasn't basing it on his batting!

View attachment 188109

Surprisingly, he apparently DID win this, despite Root's record breaking centuries.

No complaints from me, obviously!

 

[ElectricNaz]

Shockingly bad crowd for a Lord's test today.

I was reading about this yesterday online.

It might just be me being desentised to prices of things like gigs and football these days, but £125 for an entire day of the highest level of cricket (6 hours or so excluding breaks?) seems okay. £95 was the cheapest I think.

I know people say "travel, accommodation, drinks food etc" but that's the same argument for anything. And it finishes early enough that accommodation shouldnt be part of the conversation.

I guess the other side of the argument is "Bazball, game might not go long into day 4" in which case I thought cricket had a sliding scale for refunds anyway (I know for T20 etc you get money back if a certain amount of overs arent reached) is that not the same for a test?

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

I was reading about this yesterday online.

It might just be me being desentised to prices of things like gigs and football these days, but £125 for an entire day of the highest level of cricket (6 hours or so excluding breaks?) seems okay. £95 was the cheapest I think.

I know people say "travel, accommodation, drinks food etc" but that's the same argument for anything. And it finishes early enough that accommodation shouldnt be part of the conversation.

I guess the other side of the argument is "Bazball, game might not go long into day 4" in which case I thought cricket had a sliding scale for refunds anyway (I know for T20 etc you get money back if a certain amount of overs arent reached) is that not the same for a test?

I'd not consider spending anything like that on a ticket for a test match. My limit would be somewhere around £80, depending on opposition, ground, which day it was etc.

Yes, you do get a refund if there's less than a certain number of overs bowled, but yesterday went well past that.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

I was reading about this yesterday online.

It might just be me being desentised to prices of things like gigs and football these days, but £125 for an entire day of the highest level of cricket (6 hours or so excluding breaks?) seems okay. £95 was the cheapest I think.

I know people say "travel, accommodation, drinks food etc" but that's the same argument for anything. And it finishes early enough that accommodation shouldnt be part of the conversation.

I guess the other side of the argument is "Bazball, game might not go long into day 4" in which case I thought cricket had a sliding scale for refunds anyway (I know for T20 etc you get money back if a certain amount of overs arent reached) is that not the same for a test?

Is it the highest level of cricket?

I want Sri Lanka and the West Indies to do well. But they aren't at a level where they can currently compete.

In my mind the solution is to be giving them more games. All test nations should be playing more tests against each other, but realistically £125 for a ticket for a day's play is very very bad value and people rightly voted with their feet.

Test cricket is being killed off because Eng, Aus and India boards are treating it like a short term cash cow

 

[Beanstalk]

I was reading about this yesterday online.

It might just be me being desentised to prices of things like gigs and football these days, but £125 for an entire day of the highest level of cricket (6 hours or so excluding breaks?) seems okay. £95 was the cheapest I think.

I know people say "travel, accommodation, drinks food etc" but that's the same argument for anything. And it finishes early enough that accommodation shouldnt be part of the conversation.

I guess the other side of the argument is "Bazball, game might not go long into day 4" in which case I thought cricket had a sliding scale for refunds anyway (I know for T20 etc you get money back if a certain amount of overs arent reached) is that not the same for a test?

Is it really the highest level though? Both the West Indies and Sri Lanka sit comfortably in the bottom half of the Test rankings and the series have both predictably gone exactly the way you'd expect despite some resistance from both teams. Sure, for the Ashes and India you can fill a ground charging much more but for these, really?

Despite that, the price rises have been extraordinary at Lords over the last 18 months. I live a short walk away and this summer is the first that I haven't been able to afford a Test ticket (I took a gamble on £25 day 5 tickets for the Ashes last summer and was rewarded with one of the best days of cricket I've ever seen). They used to lower prices for day 4, and then have day 5 as a nominal fee. Now day 4 is the same price as day 1. Add to that, a 50% rise in most ticket price categories, and a limit to the cheapest seats (£95 and all labelled as restricted view - most were £115 and upwards) and you start to think, is it worth it to watch Sri Lanka hole out for as long as possible in a game with only one winner?

I watched it on TV from 1.3 miles away. Would've happily paid £30-£40 to watch it live down the road (which is the price I paid to go and see a highly entertaining Hundred double header at Lords, to a sold out crowd, earlier this summer). It's pure greed from the MCC whose profits rose by 15% last year.

 

[ElectricNaz]

In my head, test cricket is the highest level, regardless of opponents. That's all I meant by that, just to clarify. Yes I know Sri Lanka aren't Australia or India standard wise, but it's still their best test match players and ours.

 

[fly high]

Is it really the highest level though? Both the West Indies and Sri Lanka sit comfortably in the bottom half of the Test rankings and the series have both predictably gone exactly the way you'd expect despite some resistance from both teams. Sure, for the Ashes and India you can fill a ground charging much more but for these, really?

Despite that, the price rises have been extraordinary at Lords over the last 18 months. I live a short walk away and this summer is the first that I haven't been able to afford a Test ticket (I took a gamble on £25 day 5 tickets for the Ashes last summer and was rewarded with one of the best days of cricket I've ever seen). They used to lower prices for day 4, and then have day 5 as a nominal fee. Now day 4 is the same price as day 1. Add to that, a 50% rise in most ticket price categories, and a limit to the cheapest seats (£95 and all labelled as restricted view - most were £115 and upwards) and you start to think, is it worth it to watch Sri Lanka hole out for as long as possible in a game with only one winner?

I watched it on TV from 1.3 miles away. Would've happily paid £30-£40 to watch it live down the road (which is the price I paid to go and see a highly entertaining Hundred double header at Lords, to a sold out crowd, earlier this summer). It's pure greed from the MCC whose profits rose by 15% last year.

Isn't part of the reason the Windies and Sri Lanka are not the force they once were is a lack of money. If the "big three" distributed some of their wealth it would help to improve their competitiveness so encourage more spectators to attend matches. Back in the day when the Windies were over touring grounds were packed every day.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I was reading about this yesterday online.

It might just be me being desentised to prices of things like gigs and football these days, but £125 for an entire day of the highest level of cricket (6 hours or so excluding breaks?) seems okay. £95 was the cheapest I think.

I know people say "travel, accommodation, drinks food etc" but that's the same argument for anything. And it finishes early enough that accommodation shouldnt be part of the conversation.

I guess the other side of the argument is "Bazball, game might not go long into day 4" in which case I thought cricket had a sliding scale for refunds anyway (I know for T20 etc you get money back if a certain amount of overs arent reached) is that not the same for a test?

 

[fly high]

It does help a bit they have seating for 95,000 compared to Lords with only 31,000. Lords should still be cheaper than it is.