Test Cricket at Lords in England

[cove]

Have just applied for tickets to the Test Match at Lords in July.
Are there any AFFers heading over to the UK for the Ashes?
We need to win this series that's for sure.
Ticketing closes on Tuesday thru the WACA so we have to wait for the result of the ballot.
Otherwise it may go to plan B.

 

[craven morehead]

I have tickets for days 1 & 2 at Old Trafford. I figured I had no chance of getting any for Lords or The Oval. Luckily my mate in Belfast joined Lancashire Cricket Club to make sure we could snooker tickets. To top this off I also jagged 4 x JASA's and 4x FASA's to take +1 and 17 year old twins. :mrgreen:

 

[fersea]

sounds like a great trip.

mind you, I don't reckon we are a hope of winning any of the next three series (India in India, England in England, England in Australia).

England were very impressive in their recent series in India. Alistair Cook is one of the best openers in the world then the middle order of Trott, Pietersen and Bell is first class. Prior is probably the best wicketkeeper batsman in the world at the moment and then their attack is very strong. Jimmy Anderson is probably close to the form bowler in the world, Swann is the best spinner with Panesar not far behind (interesting to see if they prepare turning wickets) and then the other bowlers of Broad, Bresnan etc all do the job.

And most importantly, unlike the Australian bowlers, they seem to be available 9 times out of 10 rather than less than 50% with many of the Australian quicks.

 

[Sprucegoose]

sounds like a great trip.

mind you, I don't reckon we are a hope of winning any of the next three series (India in India, England in England, England in Australia).

England were very impressive in their recent series in India. Alistair Cook is one of the best openers in the world then the middle order of Trott, Pietersen and Bell is first class. Prior is probably the best wicketkeeper batsman in the world at the moment and then their attack is very strong. Jimmy Anderson is probably close to the form bowler in the world, Swann is the best spinner with Panesar not far behind (interesting to see if they prepare turning wickets) and then the other bowlers of Broad, Bresnan etc all do the job.

And most importantly, unlike the Australian bowlers, they seem to be available 9 times out of 10 rather than less than 50% with many of the Australian quicks.

Go and wash your mouth out.....,,.

 

[Simo]

One of my bucket list things to do.

 

[fersea]

Go and wash your mouth out.....,,.

I am happy to be wrong, believe me, but I can't see it happening.

An Australian team without Ponting and Hussey. Clarke had better make a ton of runs.

I am not convinced about Cowan, Hughes, Khawaja or Wade (I know he made a hundred last out but I am not sure he is a great gloveman) plus if Watson can't bowl he would struggle to be in the top 6 batsman. Warner is the sort of bloke who will win you matches but with his style comes plenty of failures too.

then the bowlers are very fragile with the exception of Siddle who seems to be the one constant.

 

[fersea]

Slightly off topic I know, but speaking of English sports, has anyone else been to premier league matches? If so how did you go about getting tickets?

I am going to be in London on the weekend of 4 / 5 May and want to watch my team, Spurs play Southampton at White Hart Lane.

 

[Shelf]

An ashes test at Lords is high on my bucket list, if only SWMBO agreed...

 

[cove]

You have 6 months to sweet talk the other half into a trip to help bring the Ashes home.

 

[Trisha MacDonald]

I have tickets to the Third Test at Old Trafford, but am waiting to find out if I get tickets for the Lords Test via the ballot (put in entries for the first four days). If I can't get Lords tickets, I will go over and see the Tour de France finish up in Paris, as it is the 100th anniversary of that!

 

[cove]

Phone the Spurs club and have your credit card handy seems to be the way to get football tickets.

 

[Edge]

I was fortunate enough to go to one of the days of the 2009 Ashes test at Lords. I came across the tickets the same way as I did my Wimbledon ones...

With any "balloted" event there are people that can't take up their tickets for whatever reason. So a couple of days before the event (or sometimes even the day before) they make the unclaimed tickets available for purchase. Wimbledon did this via ticketmaster or ticketek, Lords did this via their own website (Lord's website - Lord's) - a tiny, obscure link appeared at the very top of the homepage and took you through to purchase facilities.

Wimbledon tickets were a case of 'fastest finger first' - missed out the first time but snagged them the second time. Lords I think just no-one else knew about it and I got 2x seats in the 2nd row for face value (I think 30 - 40 pounds each). One of the great days, even though we lost the match in the end. It's a special place and well worth the visit. Was handy living in Little Venice at the time and being able to walk down there as well...

As for EPL, shouldn't be too hard to get tickets through most clubs direct. Depends on the fixture, the big matchups are tough but if it's a more 'regular' game you should be able to get them fairly easily.

 

[craven morehead]

An ashes test at Lords is high on my bucket list, if only SWMBO agreed...

Keep plugging away !!!

 

[moa999]

Bit of a null series, given it all happens again in Australia six months later.

 

[TonyHancock]

I envy you cove! Please let us have a trip report!

I'll be in the UK in July but fly back to Australia on the third day of the 1st Test.

My timings for UK trips this year has been poorly organised!!

 

[samh004]

Bit of a null series, given it all happens again in Australia six months later.

Exactly what I said to dad when I found out, well that and wtf!

 

[tuapekastar]

I went to ODI #3 (i.e. the third ever ODI in history) at Lord's back in the day. And Australia won it! Would love to catch a test there one day (I haven't done ODIs for years...too many yobbos with no interest in the game).

I recall starting to chat with two English kids around my age in the queue (did not need to pre-purchase, and entry was the princely sum of GBP1). Their father was in the queue, and they excitedly exclaimed in their quite toffy accents "Daddy, Daddy, we've found an Australian" as if I was some sort of exotic animal that had just emerged from the jungle. I ended up sitting with them, all a bit posher than me I have to say, but a pleasant day nonetheless.

 

[ncraigm]

I've got two to the opening day at The Oval, four to the ODI at Headingley, four to the ICC Champions Trophy ODI at Edgbaston and another four to the ICC Final also at Edgbaston. Hoping to get one of my ballot entries for Lord's (and Wimbledon) up again too. Should be a fun summer!

Living here with the poms hasn't been fun for the past couple of years though (2010/11 was a nightmare), so I'm hoping the boys can bring some redemption for us expats. The upcoming away series against the Kiwis will show us how good they're going I reckon. March in NZ should replicate the conditions for July in England perfectly. Be interesting to see who can step up because a few of them are off the boil in the Test team. Broad, Bell (last test notwithstanding), Bresnan and even Swann have been struggling. Pup will need to make a gazillion runs though if we're to have a chance.

re: EPL. There are certain clubs where tickets are easier to come by. QPR, Fulham and West Ham often have cheap deals and seats available. Spurs, coughnal and Chelsea sell out 99% of the time. With some European and season-end dead rubber games coming up though you should be able to bag a ticket if you're coming over soon. Viagogo is a good site where club members re-sell their tickets. If you want to fork out for hospitality seats (about £125 a pop) you can usually pick them up close to game day. Even try out the front of the stadia as there are always touts doing deals on tickets on match day. (I'm a Season Ticket holder at Chelsea actually and am off to Reading tonight after work and then flying up to Newcastle on the weekend to watch them play, so I've got some knowledge on the matter).

 

[Trisha MacDonald]

I'm going to Day 3 of the Ashes Test at Lords; was successful in the ballot! Adds to my Old Trafford ticket
Going on a QF airfare SYD-JFK-LHR-MAN-DXB-SYD... Fare cost $300 more than normal SYD-LHR return, get to go to New York and Dubai and use Qantas' codeshare service with Emirates out of MAN. Can't wait for this trip!