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Ollie Pope admitted England were taken aback by the low turnout at Lord’s on Sunday as his side claimed a fifth successive Test victory and with it a series triumph over Sri Lanka.
While the first three days all neared the 31,100 capacity, the fourth saw only around 9,000 file in as England won the second Test by 190 runs to go into an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
The price of tickets for day four may have been partly responsible as, while under-16s could get in for just £15, the cheapest available to adults on Sunday morning ahead of play was a more prohibitive £95.
Even if Lord’s is not the only ground where the cost of entry is expensive, the size of the crowd as England closed in on victory raises much wider concerns about Test cricket’s future.
And while Pope believes some mitigation can be made for a hectic international and domestic programme, the stand-in England captain was surprised at how many came to watch, saying: “It was kind of weird.
“I think a few of us have been strolling in each day and it was just like ‘jeez, it seems quiet today’. I’m not sure if people expected the game to be done by day four or not.
“It’s been a pretty heavy schedule this summer with The Hundred, T20 Blast and a lot of Test matches as well. It’s a shame it wasn’t a full house because it was obviously a good day’s play.”
The MCC explained that lowering prices would have created a logistical headache as many had already paid the whole amount in the ticketing ballot but costs will be looked at for the fourth day in future.
Pope would not be drawn on the asking price to watch a day of international cricket although he added: “It’s great to have as many kids and families in as possible and learning to love the game.”
Gus Atkinson continued his love affair at Lord’s as his five-wicket haul helped bundle Sri Lanka out for 292, following stubborn fifties from Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva.
Atkinson was already on two of the three Lord’s Test honours boards after a 12-wicket match haul against the West Indies in July and he completed the set with a maiden first-class hundred on Friday.
Pope said: “He’s smashed it so far in his Test career, so credit to him for that, and I’m sure he’s just going to keep developing and get better and better as a Test bowler.”
Joe Root’s twin hundreds took him to 34 for his career – an England record – but Pope is yet to reach 20 in four innings while leading the side in the injury-enforced absence of Ben Stokes.
Pope has been disappointed with his own form in this series but is already eyeing an upturn in fortunes in the third Test, starting at the Kia Oval on Friday.
He said: “Any batter in England can learn a fair bit off (Root). I’m not going to hide behind the fact I’ve had two poor games with the bat, that’s the way cricket is sometimes.
“I think I’ve managed the game, my own game, better throughout this match. Obviously, the runs didn’t show but I’m not going to put down my average shots to the fact that I was captain this week.
“I think form comes and goes but the best players are the ones who can draw a line under it, have a fresh start next week and hopefully I can put a score together.”
England are now just one win away from completing a clean sweep of home Test triumphs for the first time since 2004, having moved on emphatically from a disappointing 4-1 defeat by India in the winter.
Pope added: “We’ve played some really good cricket throughout this summer. We had a tough winter away in India where the results weren’t what we wanted so to get used to winning games back-to-back is really pleasing for us.”
