Harmison slams Lord’s ticket prices as shock images of England crowd go viral
Ex-England cricketer Steve Harmison has branded Lord’s latest ticket prices a ‘shambles’.
England won the Test series against Sri Lanka over the weekend, sealing victories in the first two Tests.
The tourists were chasing 483 in the second Test on Sunday and England’s Gus Atkinson ended with 5-62 to leave Sri Lanka 292 all out and beaten by 190 runs.
However, there were very few fans watching England celebrate their Test victory, with the cheapest ticket available being £95 – and Harmison believes the north London venue’s pricing is ‘ridiculous’.
“I mean it’s a joke,” he told talkSPORT Breakfast on Monday. “I mean, it’s an absolute shambles.
“We have a great way in our sport of really sort of kicking ourselves between the legs.
“£95 for a day four ticket is ridiculous. I think that tells you everything about that place.
“I really can’t understand… Everybody [drops their price], apart from Lord’s. Lord’s say ‘oh we’ve dropped our ticket prices for the West Indies series’, I’m sorry.
“All around the country, you go day five and it is £10. At Trent Bridge last year, [they] let people in for free I think.
“That was only possibly going to be the morning session.
“Like I say, we have a big way of kicking ourselves in the nuts with stupid things like this.”
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TV cameras showed huge numbers of empty rows, let alone seats, inside the ground and images of the sparse crowd quickly went viral on social media.
The ground’s capacity is 30,000, but it is believed only 9,000 were in attendance.
And Harmison insists pricing people out of tickets will only do further damage to this branch of the sport amid competition from other variations.
The former Ashes winner said: “We’re trying to revive Test cricket. We’re trying to give it some life. We’re struggling with franchise and white ball cricket.
“Well, and do you know what, that was a joke yesterday.”
Even England’s own players took note of just how quiet the ground was.
“It was kind of weird,” said Ollie Pope, England’s stand-in captain. “A few of us have been strolling in each day, and we were like, ‘Jeez, it seems quiet today.’
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“I’m not sure if people expected the game to be done by day four or what… It’s a shame it wasn’t a full house, it was obviously a good day’s play where we had to work hard for those eight wickets.”
Fans on social media bemoaned the decision, too.
One quipped on X: “190 for two at Lord’s. Not the lunch score, just the ticket price.”
“This is so sad. Lords basically empty for day 4 when England should win the series. £95 for adults is just ludicrous. Should be £50 max, £10 for kids. Test cricket doesn’t help itself at times,” a second said.
The final Test against Sri Lanka begins on Friday at London’s The Oval.
A win will seal England’s first 100 per cent Test summer record since 2004.