Lord’s to operate ballot for England v Ireland Test match tickets

Cricket Ireland expect high demand from Irish supporters for historic four-day match

Indian supporters wait for the start of the second Test between England and India  at Lord’s on Thursday. Photograph:  Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Indian supporters wait for the start of the second Test between England and India at Lord’s on Thursday. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Cricket fans hoping to see the Ireland’s Test debut against England at Lord’s next summer will have to go through the ticket balloting system run by the MCC.

All international tickets for the ground are distributed through a balloting system and the MCC confirmed that next summer’s ballot will open in mid-December and close in early January. Irish cricket fans will be able to enter online at www.tickets.lords.org for the match, which takes place from July 24th to 27th.

It will be the first four-day Test match played and Cricket Ireland chief executive, Warren Deutrom, expects demand for tickets to be high from Irish cricket fans.

“We expect intense interest in tickets from Irish cricket fans from all over the world, but particularly based in Ireland and the United Kingdom,” said Deutrom.

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“When we played our first one-day international at Lord’s in 2017 there was a 25,000-strong crowd there on the day, which really demonstrated the demand.

“To return to the world’s most famous cricket ground only two years later to play our first Test against England will be another memorable occasion and we hope as many Irish cricket fans as possible can make the trip to support our team.”

Emmet Riordan

Emmet Riordan

Emmet Riordan is an Irish Times sports journalist