The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced plans to introduce a public ballot for the first time in order to tackle surges in ticket demand for the upcoming 2019 Ashes Test series in England. The year will also see England play host to ICC Cricket World Cup.
ECB has also revealed the Men’s Major Match schedule for 2019 which will include a public ballot for all Specsavers Ashes Test Matches. Each host Ashes venue for the five bilateral ties between hosts England and Australia will release tickets via their own public ballot to meet the anticipated high demand for tickets, ECB has stated in a Press release.
Fans looking forward to watching England’s bid to regain the Ashes can pre-register for the public ballots now.
The first Test of the 2019 series will be hosted at Edgbaston, starting on 1st August. The second game will take place at Lord’s, followed by Headingley and Old Trafford, with The Oval fulfilling its traditional position as the host of the final chapter in the series.
ECB Chief Executive Officer Tom Harrison said, “Next summer’s schedule – with an ICC Cricket World Cup and an Ashes Series at its heart is truly a season to savour for cricket fans of all ages, nationalities and cultures. It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to build an even bigger following for all formats of the game.”
“There is nothing more important to England cricket fans than an Ashes Series. With the added element of being England’s first Test series in the new World Test Championship, it’s a hugely exciting prospect and we anticipate unprecedented demand for tickets. We would love to see fans from all over the world getting to experience the unique atmosphere of an Ashes Test Match after the ICC Cricket World Cup.
“We fully supported the ICC’s decision to award Full Membership to Cricket Ireland and we expect next summer’s inaugural Test Match at Lord’s against our neighbours to be a historic celebration for all Irish cricket fans. It will also provide excellent Ashes preparation for England against an Irish team whose impressive performance against Pakistan earlier this year showed they can compete strongly in this form of the game,” Harrison added.
The schedule also confirms England-Ireland historic Specsavers Test Match at Lord’s – a four-day contest which will build on last year’s successful Royal London One-Day International series between the two countries and will be their first ever meeting in the game’s longest and most respected format.
Pakistan will be England’s first opponents of the home international season with the tour featuring five Royal London One-Day Internationals and a Vitality IT20 as both countries prepare for the ICC Cricket World Cup, which starts on May 30, 2019, when England take on South Africa.
The domestic men’s games, Royal London and Vitality Blast Finals will move to different dates to avoid clashing with the ICC Cricket World Cup and the Ashes. Lord’s will once again host the Royal London One-Day Cup Final following this summer’s successful final which attracted the ground’s biggest attendance for a domestic final since 2009. Next year’s schedule will also see Vitality Blast Finals Day return to Edgbaston for the eleventh time in the domestic T20 competition’s history.
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