'Drives me bonkers when I read about ticket prices' - Michael Vaughan lashes out at Lord's Cricket Ground for high price of tickets

Former England captain Michael Vaughan slammed the Marylebone Cricket Club and Lord’s for the ticket rates being high which had left more than 20,000 tickets go unsold for the first Test against New Zealand. The Barmy Army had also revealed earlier that the ticket price was the major reason for the lack of ticket sales despite being held at Lord’s. Apart from that, the Test will mark the beginning of Ben Stokes’s leadership era while Brendon McCullum has joined as the new Test head coach as well.

Despite all these and the match dubbed as “Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Test”, there have been reports of the tickets being priced at 160 points which have thereby resulted in slow sales. England has had a tough run in the last two years in the format and is currently at the bottom of the World Test Championship 2022 table. The first of the three Tests between England and New Zealand starts on the 2nd of June.

Don’t out-price them, just read the room: Michael Vaughan

Vaughan revealed his frustrations seeing the ticket prices at Lord’s for the first Tets of the summer and felt that they were astronomical prices. He noted the cost of- living-crisis situation at the moment which had played a part in tickets going unsold and reminded the way England fans have loved Test Cricket for years. He added that the price should be based on the analysis of the current situation.

“It drives me bonkers when I read about ticket prices and Lord’s has not sold out the first test of the summer. If Lord’s is going to continue to charge these astronomical prices then they should be under threat from other grounds who will not charge as much.”

“You can’t keep saying, ‘we are Lord’s, we need two test matches a year’ and then charge over 150 pounds in the holidays, during the (Queen’s Platinum) Jubilee and during a cost-of-living crisis,” Vaughan told the Telegraph.

“We are the one country that generally sells out test cricket. One of the reasons we are successful at selling Test cricket is because people want to watch it. So, don’t out-price them. Just read the room,” he added.