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With the slow pitches and key pace bowlers injured, the legspinner could have a big role in the knockouts

Daniel Brettig02-Mar-2020For most of this summer, Georgia Wareham could only have expected the most fringe-dwelling of T20 World Cup roles for Australia. After all, Ellyse Perry and Tayla Vlaeminck were set to blast opponents out with pace, Megan Schutt bewitching them with swing, and Jess Jonassen cleaning up whatever other resistance was left over.This script was largely followed in Australia’s tournament lead-up, as Wareham played only twice against India and England and then in one unofficial warm-up against South Africa before the tournament began. In a further dampener of expectations, the loss of Vlaeminck to a foot fracture saw Molly Strano vault into the team for the opener against India: unlike her key role in the Caribbean, Wareham was looking squarely at a lot of drinks running.

‘Best win of the tournament’ – Lanning

Meg Lanning called the four-run win over New Zealand in the must-win final group game Australia’s best win of the tournament. The loss to India earlier in the script had put Australia in a spot, and they rode on Beth Mooney’s 60 Georgia Wareham’s three-for to get to the semi-finals after a tight finish in Melbourne.
“Today’s performance was our best of the tournament so far,” Lanning said. “I don’t think we could be better placed for the semi-finals. It’s certainly nice to have a win against a really good team and I thought it was a really good performance. We started well and were able to calm the situation down early with Beth Mooney playing a really good hand.
“We were under the pump with the ball a little bit but I think we dealt with it extremely well to get over the line against a really good New Zealand team. Our first challenge for this tournament to get out of the group stage and to have done that now is certainly a nice feeling.”

Two things happened to change things drastically. First, Australia lost to India, and then nearly coughed up another defeat to Sri Lanka that would have meant instant elimination. Second, the pitches turned out to be far more suitable to Wareham’s art, rewarding spin bowlers who bowl stump to stump while varying their speed and degree of spin, while depriving batters of pace to work with or create angles through the field.If her first appearance against Bangladesh was not particularly memorable, Wareham produced her most incisive spell of the home season at the precise moment Australia needed it: even more so once Perry had limped out of the match and probably the Cup with a hamstring injury. At 20, Wareham has shown considerable evolution as a spin bowler even from the 2018 World Cup to now, and was too good for New Zealand’s key trio of Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine and Maddie Green as they contended with a steepling required run rate.Asked how she had summoned up this display with so little consistent cricket behind her, Wareham said she had recalled her important contributions to both the 2018 World Cup and last year’s West Indies tour, when she plucked four wickets while conceding just 46 runs from 11 overs in three T20Is.”It’s probably something I’ve looked back on and seen how I did things during that tournament and what worked for me,” Wareham said. “I think implementing those little things today helped out, and also I guess knowing that I can play that sort of role in the team because I did that in the last World Cup, it gives me a bit of confidence and it definitely helped out today.”Things started to turn for Wareham when she and wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy correctly deduced that Bates was lbw to a skidder after trying a pull shot. “I was confident it was out, but Midge [Healy] had a pretty good say and that usually helps,” Wareham said.The captain Meg Lanning added: “We were talking about it maybe being too high. As soon as we felt that she hadn’t hit it, it was worth a gamble I guess and it paid off as well.”Devine’s exit, well stumped off a legbreak outside the off stump just as the game was starting to tighten, was the result of a more concerted plan. “It’s probably something that’s been in the works for a little bit,” Wareham said. “Just planning around if I see the batter coming at me just chucking one wide, it worked out for me today, which was good, but it’s been tough going and it was finally good to get one.”All this added up to the pivotal spell of the game, and perhaps also a blueprint for Australia to take forward into the semi-final and, if they get there, the final of the tournament they were widely expected to win. Lacking the pace of Vlaeminck and Perry, Lanning will likely need to call on Wareham, Jonassen and maybe even a third spin bowler – Sophie Molineux if fit, or someone like Amanda Wellington coming in from outside the squad – to deny opponents the chance to use pace onto the bat.”As the tournament goes on I think the wickets are played on a lot more and they become a bit slower and lower, and pace off the ball makes it more difficult for the batters to create it,” Lanning said. “So that seemed to work for us today, and I guess it just depends on where you’re playing – the SCG we’re not really sure what we’re going to get, there’s been no games on there so far, so we’ll have to look at that. But I think spin’s played a massive role across T20 cricket for a long time now and when you are under the pump as batters and you’ve got to force the issue a bit, it is more difficult to do it against the slower pace.Georgia Wareham celebrates after a successful review•Getty Images

“We’ve got 15 players here who can do a job and you need a squad to win a World Cup. You can’t rely on two players and the same XI each game, and we’re going to have to use the depth we have got, we’ve said we’ve got a lot of depth, I believe that, and we’re just going to have to use it. That’s just the reality of it, in elite sport you get injuries and things like that … I’ve got full confidence that any player who comes in can play a role and we’re just going to have to get through it and play maybe slightly differently, but that’s fine, we’ve got to adapt.”Having finished second best to Wareham to ensure her side’s elimination, Devine admitted that it had been a different feeling losing to an Australian side relying so much more on spin than speed. “I think it is, and I think as well the pitch conditions certainly haven’t been what we expected when we first came over to Australia,” she said. “As soon as we knew the World Cup was here, we thought we’d get nice, fast, bouncy wickets and probably haven’t had those, although today’s wicket was a lot better, had a bit more carry and bounce in it.”But spin has played a massive part throughout the tournament and it will continue to do so moving into the finals series. Certainly with Australia losing Tayla early in the competition, I know that was a massive blow fro them, but we also know their depth, spoken a lot about with the bat but certainly with the ball, the way Georgia Wareham stood up today was fantastic.”Megan Schutt as well – geez, I hate her sometimes! – but they’re world-class players and I think that’s the great thing about Australia, I don’t like blowing them up too much because they’ve got big enough heads already, but it doesn’t matter who on the day, someone always seems to step up for them.”From the moment they lost Vlaeminck, to the opening loss against India, the near-death experience against Sri Lanka and now the loss of Perry, Australia are becoming accustomed to doing things according to plans B and C. Wareham showed that, in her case at least, the back-ups are ready, willing, and most importantly able.

The tournament titled Lanka T10 League will be played over 12 days in June 2023

Madushka Balasuriya21-Nov-2022Sri Lanka Cricket has pencilled in June 2023 for the launch of its inaugural T10 league. Titled the Lanka T10 League, the tournament will also host both a men’s and women’s tournament in the same slot first – meaning matches would take place “concurrently,” potentially on alternating days, though SLC is yet to iron out the details.Related

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SLC also announced that six men’s teams and four women’s teams will take part, with each to be named after a Sri Lankan city – similar to those in the Lanka Premier League.While the precise dates and venues are yet to be finalised, it is expected that venues in Kandy and Hambantota will likely host the matches, while SLC anticipates substantial player registrations – over 1600, which was the number for the most recent Abu Dhabi T10 League – for the yet to be announced player draft.Each team will be allowed a 16-member squad, in which there can be a maximum of six foreign players.The tournament will be held over 12 days in June next year. However, going forward it is understood that SLC will look to hold it in December, with the LPL set for the August window.”Next year also we will have the LPL in December, but going forward we have reserved a window in August for that,” SLC CEO Ashley de Silva said. “So for next year, we will have the Lanka T10 in June and the LPL in December, but from 2024 onwards, the T10 tournament will move to December and the LPL to August.”Sri Lanka has long been a proponent of T10 cricket, with it being the first Full Member to sanction and endorse its players to participate in the Abu Dhabi T10 League. Since then, the cricket boards in the West Indies, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have followed suit.

New York Warriors still at the top of the points table; Morrisville Unity move to second

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Aug-2023Sohail Khan took four wickets in four balls to restrict Atlanta Riders to 103 for 6 but it came down to New York Warriors needing 22 off the final over of the chase. Jonathan Carter and Misbah-ul-Haq then smashed four sixes off Kamrul Islam to seal a last-ball win.After Atlanta were sent in, Lendl Simmons and Robin Uthappa added 81 in 7.5 overs. Simmons was the aggressor, hitting 41 off 23 with the help of two fours and four sixes, while Uthappa played second fiddle with 32 off 25.With both openers departing within three balls of each other, Atlanta were 83 for 2 in 8.1 overs. Hamilton Masakadza hit his first ball for a six to make it 98 for 2 with one over left. That’s when Sohail rattled them. With the first two balls of the tenth over he bowled Masakadza and Hammad Azam before completing his hat-trick by trapping Grant Elliott lbw. That was the second hat-trick of the day – Fidel Edwards had picked one up earlier in the day – but Sohail went on to do one better. With his next ball, he cleaned up Harmeet Singh to pick up four in four.New York didn’t have a great start to their chase and by the second over, they were 15 for 2. It soon became 39 for 3 when Harmeet removed Tillakaratne Dilshan for his second wicket.With 62 required from five overs, Shahid Afridi hit Nasir Hossain for a four and a six. In the next over, Carter picked up two consecutive fours off Elias Sunny.Rayad Emrit removed Afridi in the eighth over, and Mohammad Irfan conceded only eight in the ninth to put Atlanta ahead. That left Kamrul with 21 to defend in the last over but he slipped up. Carter hit his first ball for a six, and a single and a wide later, Misbah too cleared the boundary.With seven required from two balls, Carter hit back-to-back sixes to wrap it up.Fidel Edwards celebrates his hat-trick•US Masters T10 League

Fidel Edwards was the wrecker-in-chief for Texas Chargers, nabbing the tournament’s first hat-trick to set up his side’s first victory in US Masters T10 2023.New Jersey Triton’s looked out of sorts from the word go as Edwards dismissed opener Naman Ojha and Yusuf Pathan off consecutive short deliveries in the first over. Jesse Ryder too struggled to find his rhythm before Ehsan Adil put him out of his misery.The situation worsened for the Triton’s as Adil struck again, hitting the stumps with a full-length delivery to dismiss Chris Barnwell. Triton’s hit their first four of the innings in the fifth over when Danza Hyatt dispatched a low full toss from Sohail Tanvir towards deep midwicket. Skipper Gautam Gambhir walked in at No. 8 but was out second ball, deceived by a slower delivery from Imran Khan.A swing and a miss from Bipul Sharma handed Edwards his hat-trick in the ninth over as the full-length delivery clipped the top of the off stump.Chasing a mere 58, Chargers were off in a flash as Mohammad Hafeez slammed Peter Trego for a six and a four off consecutive deliveries in the first over. He followed it up with two successive sixes off Liam Plunkett in the next over. However, Plunkett responded by taking the pace off and castling Hafeez with his very next delivery.Ben Dunk continued the attack, hitting RP Singh for 14 runs in the first four deliveries of the third over before the former India fast bowler dismissed the Chargers captain. Needing ten runs to win in 43 deliveries, Thisara Perera and Mukhtar Ahmed took the side home in the next over.Aaron Finch now has two unbeaten fifties, and two defeats, in his last two games•Ace Images/US Masters T10

California Knights’ captain Aaron Finch’s unbeaten 63 off 30 went in vain as an all-round show from Obus Pienaar (3 for 13 and 23 not out off 12) guided Mooresville Unity to a seven-wicket victory. The win propelled Unity to second on the table with five points from four matches.Sent in, Knights got off to a slow start as the opening pair of Finch and Jacques Kallis struggled to find boundaries consistently.Finch eventually slammed Najaf Shah for a boundary straight down the ground and followed it up with a splendid six over third man in the third over to change the momentum. However, his opening partner was sent back in the next over as he fell prey to quicker delivery from Pienaar.Finch struggled to get his timing right but kept his composure and was the only Knights batter to reach double figures. Meanwhile, Pienaar continued to weave his magic and dismissed Milind Kumar and Suresh Raina off consecutive deliveries in his second over.Finch continued to hold the fort from the other end and brought up his fifty off 25 balls. But with no other batter finding the boundary in the last five overs, Knights ended with a below-par total.During the chase, Parthiv Patel and Chris Gayle added 30 in 2.5 overs before a quicker delivery from Ashley Nurse dismissed Gayle. Parthiv followed suit in the next over, getting out to Ricardo Powell.Shehan Jayasuriya and Pienaar, though, continued the flow of runs by consistently dispatching the ball to the boundary and over it. Following the dismissal of Jayasuriya, off a straighter delivery from Pawan Suyal, Corey Anderson looked in a hurry to take his side home and improve their net run rate. The former New Zealand all-rounder hit Nurse for 20 runs in the last four deliveries off the ninth over to help his side seal the victory.

Bridget Patterson played the key hand with the bat with her 70 lifting the home side to a competitive total

AAP29-Oct-2023A bizarre run out helped Adelaide Strikers hand Brisbane Heat their first defeat of the WBBL season, downing the visitors by 59 runs to go second on the ladder.On the same night that the Melbourne Stars got their season back on track with a seven-run over Perth Scorchers, Strikers did well to defend their total of 148 for 4 at Karen Rolton Oval.With Heat battling at 31 for 2 in reply, big hitter Mignon du Preez was run out for one at the non-striker’s end when a Georgia Voll drive was hit straight back at her.Related

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The ball rebounded off du Preez and onto the stumps, dislodging the bails, before bowler Amanda-Jade Wellington removed the stump from the ground and touched it with the ball with the South African still out of her crease.Players are able to remove the stump if the bails are already off to effect a run out, however it was questionable if Wellington had done so correctly with the ball in the opposite hand to that which pulled out the stump.The wicket proved a crucial moment in the game, as Wellington had Voll caught-and-bowled next ball for 15. The legspinner also claimed the key wicket of Jess Jonassen later in her spell, deceiving her in flight to have her stumped for 22. Heat were bowled out for 89 in 16 overs, ending their run of four straight wins to start the season.Wellington’s efforts with the ball came after Bridget Patterson hurt Heat with the bat for the second time in 12 months.The hero of Strikers’ finals win over Heat last summer, Patterson struck 70 off 53 to help rescue Strikers from 47 for 3 after 10 overs.Patterson hit seven boundaries and two sixes, including a massive hit off Sarah Glenn back over the spinner’s head.

Test captain offers support to Ollie Robinson as England ponder three-man seam attack

Vithushan Ehantharajah05-Mar-20241:34

What will Bazball 2.0 look like?

For the first time under Ben Stokes’ captaincy, England will be playing for pride in a Test match.India hold the spoils, and all England have is the carrot of leaving with a 3-2 scoreline by becoming the first team since 2012 to win two matches in a series against the hosts. Though that is mainly down to the fact not every Test nation is afforded five Tests in these parts. Even Australia were only given four this time last year.That Dharamsala is hosting this fifth and final Test does add extra context of scenery and, for some, divinity. A number of the touring party will meet the Dalai Lama on Wednesday morning. At this point, England’s own spiritual leader is unlikely to be among them.Related

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The series may be gone, but Stokes’ focus remains for this final stretch of this tour. “Well, it’s like whenever we play,” he replied when asked what, aside from a few World Test Championship points, are at stake. “We want to win this week.”Complacency is not an option, particularly with the sense this team needs to step up to the next level. Missed chances against Australia last summer stung, and similar spurned opportunities in India speak of the need for a talented group to start handling these pressure situations more effectively.”It’s not a mental or a mentality thing,” Stokes said, matter-of-factly. “All you can do is work your hardest and try your nuts off in the nets because that’s where you get better.”It was in the nets on Tuesday morning that England came the close to freezing those proverbials off. Most of the squad trained in beanie hats, which were brought over during the break between the second and third Test, along with a few long-sleeve cream jumpers. Cooler temperatures and even rain forecast on day one make this match an altogether different proposition.England are entertaining picking a three-pronged seam attack for the first time on this trip, but will wait to see how what Stokes described as a “belting deck” as far as batting is concerned, with surprisingly little grass given the rain over the last week, looks on Wednesday afternoon. Shoaib Bashir is nursing a split spinning finger, having bowled almost 38% of his first-class overs in the last month. He is likely to be the one that makes way for the extra pace option.With James Anderson fully fit after a quad strain kept him off the field for the final session of the fourth Test – and just two away from 700 career dismissals – Mark Wood could return for his third match of the series. And while Stokes lauded uncapped quick Gus Atkinson as “an exciting talent”, Ollie Robinson may retain his place in the XI after a disappointing first appearance since last July in the defeat at Ranchi.Robinson went wicketless in 13 overs consigned solely to the first innings after picking up a back issue running between the wickets while compiling his maiden Test fifty. It dramatically stifled his effectiveness and in turn blunted England’s cutting-edge with the ball. His misery was compounded by a costly drop of Dhruv Jurel in India’s first innings.Stokes took the opportunity to back Robinson, whose Test record still reads an impressive 76 wickets at 22.92. And he gave a clear indication he sees the 30-year-old as an important part of England’s future.Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum oversee preparations ahead of the fifth Test against India•Getty Images

“You are more gutted for Ollie that something on day one, his back going, which affects the role he can play in the long run. He is more disappointed that he couldn’t help the team out as much as he’d like,” he said.”With Ollie, we look at the effort he put in as an individual leading up to and on this tour. His work ethic away from playing was very good, and he gave himself the best chance of being in position to win that game for us.”The thing to look at is that he was out on the field, trying to influence the game even though he wasn’t feeling 100%. A lesser man would have put their hands up, walked away and not even tried.”Stokes saved special praise for Jonny Bairstow, ahead of the Yorkshire batter’s 100th cap. The pair have a long association, starting from age-group cricket. And it was instructive that Bairstow rated his 2022 summer – Stokes’ first as captain – as a broad highlight of his career.Naturally, Stokes was unwilling to take credit: “I’m not the one who’s out there doing that,” referencing the 681 runs struck across just six Tests that season. But as a close friend of Bairstow, and someone who brought up three figures himself in the third Test at Rajkot and brushed it off, he knows how much this will mean to the 34-year-old.”This is probably going to be more of an emotional thing for Jonny than it ever was for me. I don’t need to go into details as to why about the whole family. He’s got his mam, sister, partner, little baby boy and some friends here.”Playing for England means so much to Jonny and means so much to his family as well and to play over 100 ODIs, 100 Tests – a lot of cricket for England – it means a hell of a lot to him. He deserves everything that gets spoken about him in the build-up to the game and throughout the week as well.”But amid all the Bairstow-related pageantry, and the possibility of narrowing the gap between them and India, England first need to approach this fixture like it matters, even if it carries little weight in the grand scheme of things. Stokes made a note of reiterating that to the team before training got underway.”We’ve been on so many India tours, you know what it’s like when you get to an end of a long one – that sometimes you start thinking about the end of the game,” Stokes warned.”I don’t think that anyone is thinking like that because every opportunity we feel at the moment is special to play for England. Because we’ve lost the series, it doesn’t mean that this game is different to what last week was or the week before.”We’ll think about the plane and getting home when we’re in the airport. So I won’t be thinking about that whatsoever until the game’s done.”

Tom Alsop and John Simpson fight with 60s but Sussex facing second defeat of season

ECB Reporters Network24-Aug-2024Yorkshire are closing in on victory over Division Two leaders Sussex at Hove following Ben Coad’s new-ball five-for at Scarborough, setting up a victory target of 103 late on day three.Sussex started the day on 26 without loss in their second innings, 111 runs behind the league’s third-placed side, and were bowled out for 239 as seamer Coad returned five for 69. His wickets came with the first and second new balls.Half-centuries for Tom Alsop and captain John Simpson, who top-scored with 67, meant the visitors were not over-run. But they realistically needed more to defy a Yorkshire attack who kept on coming at them.The hosts then closed the day on 28 for 2 from 10 overs and require 75 more to seal a third win in as many four-day games. Sussex were teetering at lunch against their third-placed rivals, 66 for three in their second innings and still 71 runs in arrears. Only their second defeat of 2024 looked like it might come quickly.However, Alsop with 61 – his second fifty of the match – and Simpson held things up with a fifth-wicket partnership of 85, compiled through the majority of the afternoon.A 45-minute rain delay from 11.10am cut 10 overs from the day’s allocation of 103. Yorkshire still had enough time before lunch to prise out three Sussex wickets.George Hill claimed two of them with his seam after Fin Bean had helped Coad strike with a stunning one-handed leaping catch above his head at third slip to remove the Australian opener Daniel Hughes. That wicket had come in the opening stages of the day, before the rain.Afterwards, Hill had Tom Haines caught by Bean at first slip and Tom Clark caught behind by Jonny Bairstow – his first catch of the match. Both Toms were out playing loosely.By now, Sussex were faced with a pitch showing significant signs of invariable bounce. Clark, for example, faced balls which rapped him on the gloves from Jordan Thompson and shot past his ankle from Hill en route to 17. Thompson himself struck in the early stages of the afternoon when he uprooted James Coles’ leg stump.But that paved the way for the Sussex fightback, with Alsop and Simpson – their two most prolific batters this season – wiping out the remaining 53-run deficit and claiming a lead. Largely, they advanced with caution, though Alsop, who drove nicely, did reverse sweep one of his boundaries off Dan Moriarty’s left-arm spin.By the time tea arrived, Sussex were 164 for 4, 27 ahead and Alsop had reached a 125-ball fifty. Their partnership was closing in on three figures when Alsop was caught behind at the second attempt by Bairstow on the cut.And when Fynn Hudson-Prentice was run out at the striker’s end having been sent back by Simpson, with Jonny Tattersall from backward point and Bairstow combining, Sussex were 179 for six in the 78th over, leading by 42 and with the new ball on the horizon.That new ball worked immediately for Yorkshire, with Coad getting Jack Carson caught behind. At 188 for 7, the earlier good work of Alsop and Simpson was threatening to be undermined. So it proved.As Simpson reached his fifty off 129 balls, Ollie Robinson clubbed a quick 28, only for him to be caught behind off Coad. Bairstow’s fourth catch of the day left Sussex 226 for eight, leading by 89.Coad had Jaydev Unadkat caught at mid-on shortly afterwards before bowling Simpson, who tried to ramp a second six as he was shorn of partners, to wrap things up with his 35th wicket of the campaign. No bowler has taken more in Division Two this season.Unadkat and Robinson then had Bean and Thompson caught in the slips – 18 for 2 – to at least give Sussex a glimmer of hope that they can achieve what would be a remarkable turnaround.

He was suspended on Tuesday for assaulting a Bangladesh cricketer and taking more leaves than mentioned in his contract

Mohammad Isam17-Oct-2024Two days after suspending Chandika Hathurusinghe, the BCB has terminated him as Bangladesh’s head coach. The sacking came on the grounds of misconduct and breach of employment terms.BCB president Faruque Ahmed said on Tuesday that Hathurusinghe assaulted a Bangladesh cricketer and took more leaves than mentioned in his contract. The board had served him a show-cause notice, seeking an explanation on the two counts of misconduct. Hathurusinghe responded on the following day, which prompted an emergency board meeting to review the situation on Thursday.”After considering all factors, the board deemed Hathurusinghe’s explanation unsatisfactory and unacceptable and found his action consistent with misconduct and dereliction of duty,” a BCB release said. “His termination comes into immediate effect.”This ends Hathurusinghe’s second stint as Bangladesh coach, even though his contract was till January 2023. This stint included the milestone Test series win in Pakistan recently. However, the two World Cup campaigns, the ODI one in 2023 and the T20 one in 2024 were underwhelming.Phil Simmons has already been appointed the next head coach till the Champions Trophy in February 2025.

MCC defend “premium” prices despite slow ticket sales

Andrew Miller and Matt Roller31-May-2022Ben Stokes, England’s new Test captain, has warned that the sport may need to take a serious look at the cost of tickets, as this week’s Lord’s Test against New Zealand prepares to get underway with a significant number of seats still available for the first four days of the match.With 24 hours to go until the start of the first Test of the summer against the reigning World Test Champions, some 16,000 tickets are still unsold, including 9,000 for Sunday’s fourth day’s play. Of those, the majority are priced in excess of £100, leading Stokes – in his first pre-match press conference as full-time captain – to lend his weight to the spectators’ cause.”The ticket prices is something that I think is going to have to be looked at properly,” Stokes said. “What is cricket without its fans? What is sport without its fans?”We want to be attracting people to come and watch us because of the cricket that we play and how successful we are. But I guess you have to look at how much it’s going to cost someone to get into the ground.”One thing that we have always received as an England cricket team is amazing support. Obviously the Barmy Army are well renowned but even those who don’t associate themselves with any supporters group are just fantastic. I don’t set the prices, but I think it does need to be looked at.”Related

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There are extenuating circumstances for this particular fixture, which takes place across the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend, meaning both Thursday and Friday are national holidays. The UK is also experiencing a cost-of-living crisis, with inflation rates at their highest in 40 years, leaving household budgets stretched.However, despite the fact that most schools are on their half-term break, meaning that this Test could be an opportunity for children to attend during the weekdays, the only concessions available are in the cheapest price brackets, meaning that some Under-16 tickets are on sale for as much as £160 on the first three days of the Test.On Wednesday, MCC defended setting such “premium” ticket prices for the first of their two Tests this summer – with South Africa also due to play at Lord’s in August.”MCC has undertaken significant reorganisation of its ticket pricing for international matches in recent years, recognising the exceptional demand for tickets that Test matches at Lord’s are expected to generate,” the club told ESPNcricinfo in a statement.”With the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee double bank holiday weekend also taking place, we have seen a reduction in our usual expected attendance numbers. However, sales remain strong for the opening two days of the match and across our other international fixtures this year, with our India ODI being sold out.”Whilst we recognise that the top price tickets available are at a premium price, we believe that across the whole ground, this represents good value to watch top-class international cricket at one of the world’s most iconic sporting venues, with many pricing points available.”Stuart Broad, who has been confirmed in England’s playing XI, agreed with Stokes’ stated aim to play the sort of cricket that persuades fans to come back through the turnstiles.Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes are concerned by low ticket sales•PA Images/Getty

“From the outside, when you see Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes’ mindset come together, it’s pretty exciting,” he said. “To attract the fans, we have to build on that style of cricket and have a style that people want to watch.”Trent Bridge [the venue for the second Test] has sold out for the first three days, so there is still that support for the team. From the players’ point of view, we have to make that commitment that we want to be exciting and draw people through the gates.”I suppose it’s comparative with Twickenham, Wembley – there’s a market value,” Broad added. “There’s a lot going on this weekend [so it’s] a strange one to judge: the Queen’s Jubilee, a bank holiday – there’s a lot of competition for entertainment in London. I’m sure the prices will have to adjust to the cost of living and if stadiums get emptier, people will have to adjust.”McCullum said at his unveiling as England’s new Test coach last week that Test cricket would be “in trouble” if his side were not among the top sides in the world “because of the support that the people of England and the UK have” for the format. “No one else really has the same affection and has the ability to make the game sustainable,” he added.Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, told the that the ECB should consider reviewing the allocation of two Tests per summer to Lord’s. “You can’t keep saying, ‘we are Lord’s, we need two Test matches a year’ and then charge over £150 in the holidays, during the jubilee and during a cost-of-living crisis,” he said.”It’s scandalous that Lord’s thinks it can get away with a ticket price for one day of Test cricket that is the same as what you would charge for a season ticket for the Hundred. We have all these administrators telling us Test cricket is the pinnacle and then they do this.”