- England defeated Sri Lanka by 190 runs in the second Test at Lord’s to win the series
- After a century in England’s first innings, Gus Atkinson took a five-for on day five
- There were tens of thousands of empty seats at Lord’s for the final day of play
Ollie Pope lamented that only 9,000 people turned up to see England win the Test series against Sri Lanka.
Although the first three days saw 31,000 spectators in the venue, the final acts of the match won by 190 runs were performed to empty seats at Lord’s.
Pope, who replaced Ben Stokes as Test captain, said: “It was a bit strange. A few of us came in and it was like, ‘Jeez, it seems quiet’.
‘Too bad the room wasn’t full, because it was clearly a good day.’
MCC previously said it would review prices for Lord’s Tests after its second match of the summer failed to match the first four days when the team sold out against West Indies in July.
“While our 2024 sales are the best outside an Ashes year, we will pay particular attention to the structure of day four tickets in our pricing assessments given the way Test cricket is currently played,” said Guy Lavender, CEO of MCC.
He blames the fans’ reluctance to attend on the fourth day on the English Bazball style, where the game is quickly ramped up.
