UK Ferry Tickets Where were you… when the Ashes were won?

Where were you… when the Ashes were won?

There’s not much left to say about the cricket that hasn’t already been said, other than that I was there!

There were touts galore outside the Oval on the Monday of the test match, initially asking for up to £500 for a ticket. But a couple of us had a strategy – go away, have a cup of coffee, come back nearer the start of the game and see how much the tickets were then.

After a lot of haggling, we got them for £80 each (on the Thursday we spent £100 on tickets with a face value of £60) and it was the best money I’ve ever spent.

I’m also a football fanatic, but the contrast between the two games could not be greater. In one, the disgraceful behaviour of overpaid prima donnas, like Wayne Rooney, is condoned by managers; in another every player gives every ounce of effort but always finds time to congratulate members of the other team. Cricket is sport in its purest form, while football has lost its way under a mountain of money. No wonder the crowds are staying away (and preferring instead to cheer on the cricketers at Trafalgar Square).

Back to the event and many hypocritical organisers have been quick to condemn the touts. They should get their own house in order.

At the Oval, tickets were sold on a first-come-first-served basis and there seemed to be no limit to the amount on offer to those at the head of the queue. Last year, a friend of mine bought six tickets for his family for the Thursday and Friday of the tests and told me he was offered ten on each day. No wonder so many get into the hands of touts.

The Oval should learn from Lord’s, which has a much tighter control over the distribution of tickets. Consequently, very few tickets for the Lord’s test were available on the black market.

Touts have got a terrible reputation, but they are simply exploiting the laws of supply and demand in a capitalist society. They have something and simply sell it for as much as they can get. It’s no different from you or me selling our house, car or any other item.

And if there weren’t any touts, I wouldn’t have seen one of our greatest sporting achievements for years.

What’s your view? Would you pay over the odds to see an event?

Guest Article by Jeremy Skidmore