- England beat 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 bemoaned only 9,000 people turning up to witness England wrap up a Test series win over Sri Lanka.
Despite the first three days attracting full houses of 31,000, the final acts of the 190-run win were played out in front of swathes of empty seats at Lord’s.
Pope, deputising as Test captain for Ben Stokes, said: ‘It was kind of weird. A few of us were strolling in and it was like, ‘Jeez, it seems quiet’.
‘It’s a shame it wasn’t a full house because it was obviously a good day’s play.’
Earlier, MCC said they would review pricing for Lord’s Tests after their second match of the summer failed to emulate the first four days selling out against West Indies in July.
‘Whilst our sales in 2024 have been the best outside an Ashes year, we will be paying particular attention to the structure of fourth-day tickets in our pricing reviews given the way Test cricket is now being played,’ said MCC chief executive Guy Lavender.
attributing England’s Bazball style of pushing the game forward quickly for fans’ reluctance to plan to attend on day four.
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