Nige Giles
Cricket Spectator
I’ve just been successful in the Lords Ballot for tickets to watch England v India in July next year..
That’s great I hear you say, but the cynic in me believes I can now see how I achieved this “success”- Although paying top price for the seats (£175.00), these are located in an area that doesn’t have full view of the playing area and in cricket that is the whole of the outfield up to the ropes- just like being able to see all of a football pitch. My "success" has given me seats allocated in the "new" Edrich Stand Upper Tier extension. Although NOT accusing the MCC of skullduggery, to me in my opinion this is certainly the best way to ensure these seats are sold as the ballot winners do not have the ability to “see” the view from the individual seats prior to purchase when applying for the - general admission unrestricted view tickets in a ballot. However, you can do that prior to purchasing individual seats in a general sale (if there any seats left). Handy that if you want to be sure you fill the the seats in your £53million Compton and Edrich extensions. These stands have just (2021) been built straddling either side of the “award winning” JP Morgan Media centre and a large number of these seats have variable “restricted” view - (part of the oufield is blocked by the media centre). By the way, from the small print - seats are only considered to have a “Restricted View” if between 20%-40% of the outfield is out of view. So, where up to 19% is obscured - they are not considered as having a “restricted view” This conveniently allows them to charge full whack for ALL seats in these stands (probably a requirement to recoup the costs of building them). So, the moral of this story - if you’re interested in going to the “Home of Cricket” it is buyer beware and AVOID both Edrich and Compton Stand Upper Tiers unless you can select an individual seat and check the view out beforehand - never select a seat here in a ballot!!!!! Anyone else have the same issues?
That’s great I hear you say, but the cynic in me believes I can now see how I achieved this “success”- Although paying top price for the seats (£175.00), these are located in an area that doesn’t have full view of the playing area and in cricket that is the whole of the outfield up to the ropes- just like being able to see all of a football pitch. My "success" has given me seats allocated in the "new" Edrich Stand Upper Tier extension. Although NOT accusing the MCC of skullduggery, to me in my opinion this is certainly the best way to ensure these seats are sold as the ballot winners do not have the ability to “see” the view from the individual seats prior to purchase when applying for the - general admission unrestricted view tickets in a ballot. However, you can do that prior to purchasing individual seats in a general sale (if there any seats left). Handy that if you want to be sure you fill the the seats in your £53million Compton and Edrich extensions. These stands have just (2021) been built straddling either side of the “award winning” JP Morgan Media centre and a large number of these seats have variable “restricted” view - (part of the oufield is blocked by the media centre). By the way, from the small print - seats are only considered to have a “Restricted View” if between 20%-40% of the outfield is out of view. So, where up to 19% is obscured - they are not considered as having a “restricted view” This conveniently allows them to charge full whack for ALL seats in these stands (probably a requirement to recoup the costs of building them). So, the moral of this story - if you’re interested in going to the “Home of Cricket” it is buyer beware and AVOID both Edrich and Compton Stand Upper Tiers unless you can select an individual seat and check the view out beforehand - never select a seat here in a ballot!!!!! Anyone else have the same issues?