Lorde struggles to sell out Test match as Ireland calls it not 'top event'

Josh Little will not compete in the Trial of the Lord, instead he will focus on Ireland's World Cup qualifying campaign Photo: Getty Images/Dibyangshu Sarkar

«We have to understand that while we are incredibly proud to play against England in Lord's… this is a special occasion, not the main event,» he said. «Attending a World Cup qualifier where only 10 teams can qualify for the World Cup is still the biggest priority in the game to our knowledge.»

Lord's also saw a modest crowd around 15,000 for yesterday's London derby between Middlesex and Surrey in the T20 Blast, but the England and Wales Cricket Board says advance sales for the tournament are up 25 percent (or 73,000 tickets) year on year.

Another test in London in June, the Australia-India World Test final at the Oval on 7 June, has only a few tickets left for all five days, largely due to huge demand to see Rohit Sharma wherever they play. world.

More positive ticketing news: The ECB announced that they have sold more than 70,000 tickets for Women's Ashes so far, more than double the total attendance for the same series four years ago.

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