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Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Biggest since Taylor Swift': Ashes ticket rush on as cricket fans look to outnumber Barmy Army
Across five Tests last season, 837,879 fans watched Australia take on India – the highest total for any non-Ashes Test series in Australian history. The all-time attendance record for a Test series on home soil stands at 946,750, set during the 1936-37 Ashes when Bradman was Australia's rock at the top of the order. The next biggest was the 2017-18 Ashes, with 866,732 fans through the gates. 'We've had more than twice as many pre-sale registrations than we had even for last season, which had a Border-Gavaskar series which broke all records,' Greenberg said. 'The Ashes is just synonymous with so many cricket fans in this country. On the back of the last Ashes series in England, I think there's a real appetite to see the return bout. 'We're seeing huge interest on travel packages for the Barmy Army. One of the things we've got to make sure is we don't give them a home advantage in our own Test match venues.' Last year's Boxing Day Test against India drew 373,691 people to the MCG across five days – the highest ever attendance for a single Test in Australia. Crowds also topped 47,000 across three days at the SCG for the final Test, in which debutant Beau Webster hit the winning runs. 'Everyone will typically talk about the opening days of Adelaide and Melbourne and Sydney, but I think there's a strong chance this year that we could have several sell-outs across all our Test matches, which would be quite amazing,' Greenberg said. Loading Greenberg, who will oversee his first full summer as CA boss, says he'd love to see Australia beat England – but from a financial point of view, he would also be hoping for a few close encounters. 'Of course I want to see us win the Ashes and win them well,' Greenberg said. 'But as a cricket lover and a cricket enthusiast, I definitely want to see good cricket as well. 'I'm confident that it will be some really good cricket, and I think England will be looking to prove a point.' Before the Ashes, Australia's men take on South Africa and India in white ball fixtures, while the national women's side have a multi-format series against India in February and March.
The Age
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Age
‘Biggest since Taylor Swift': Ashes ticket rush on as cricket fans look to outnumber Barmy Army
Across five Tests last season, 837,879 fans watched Australia take on India – the highest total for any non-Ashes Test series in Australian history. The all-time attendance record for a Test series on home soil stands at 946,750, set during the 1936-37 Ashes when Bradman was Australia's rock at the top of the order. The next biggest was the 2017-18 Ashes, with 866,732 fans through the gates. 'We've had more than twice as many pre-sale registrations than we had even for last season, which had a Border-Gavaskar series which broke all records,' Greenberg said. 'The Ashes is just synonymous with so many cricket fans in this country. On the back of the last Ashes series in England, I think there's a real appetite to see the return bout. 'We're seeing huge interest on travel packages for the Barmy Army. One of the things we've got to make sure is we don't give them a home advantage in our own Test match venues.' Last year's Boxing Day Test against India drew 373,691 people to the MCG across five days – the highest ever attendance for a single Test in Australia. Crowds also topped 47,000 across three days at the SCG for the final Test, in which debutant Beau Webster hit the winning runs. 'Everyone will typically talk about the opening days of Adelaide and Melbourne and Sydney, but I think there's a strong chance this year that we could have several sell-outs across all our Test matches, which would be quite amazing,' Greenberg said. Loading Greenberg, who will oversee his first full summer as CA boss, says he'd love to see Australia beat England – but from a financial point of view, he would also be hoping for a few close encounters. 'Of course I want to see us win the Ashes and win them well,' Greenberg said. 'But as a cricket lover and a cricket enthusiast, I definitely want to see good cricket as well. 'I'm confident that it will be some really good cricket, and I think England will be looking to prove a point.' Before the Ashes, Australia's men take on South Africa and India in white ball fixtures, while the national women's side have a multi-format series against India in February and March.
South Wales Guardian
22-05-2025
- Sport
- South Wales Guardian
One more place to go – Ben Stokes targets top spot in Test rankings for England
Sir Andrew Strauss was the last England skipper to reach the summit back in 2011, holding the title for less than a year, but the annual update of the International Cricket Council's table recently catapulted Stokes' side from fifth to second. Only rivals Australia remain above them. When he took over from Joe Root in 2022, the team had slumped to sixth and their lowest points tally in 27 years, but have since won 22 of their last 35 matches. England have moved up to 2nd place in the latest ICC Test rankings 📈 It follows a run of three series wins in the past year 🏴👏 — England's Barmy Army 🏴🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) May 5, 2025 With Thursday's one-off game against Zimbabwe followed by a five-match home series against India and a huge Ashes trip Down Under to come this winter, further successes could lift them back to top. And Stokes made his ambitions plain in a message to head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key. 'When the rankings came out, I did send Baz and Keysy a text saying, 'We've got one more place to go',' he said. 'Everyone knows when things are going well for us as a team we are incredibly hard to stop. We know it doesn't always go that way. 'The word 'ruthless', I'm not a big fan of. The words I do love and what I've tried to instil in this team is 'dominance' and 'dominate'. A post shared by Ben Stokes (@stokesy) 'Whatever situation we find ourselves in the game, that's the word I want to be at the front of our heads. 'We have Zimbabwe now and that's our sole focus at the moment. We know what we have coming up, but we will deal with the challenge of Zimbabwe then as we get closer to India starting, turn our focus to that.' England finished a subdued fifth in the most recent World Test Championship table, a curiously uneven structure that rewards teams with gentler fixture lists and heavily penalises slow over-rates. Stokes has been an outspoken critic of the formula in the past and suggested England's rankings rise bolstered his case. 'I did make some comments around the World Test Championship and they might make a little bit more sense now, considering we've jumped up to second,' he said. This week's match at Trent Bridge represents Stokes' first competitive action since December, when he tore his hamstring in Hamilton. It was a recurrence of a similar injury sustained last summer, leading to a second successive bout of surgery and rehabilitation. He intends to be back as a fully-functioning all-rounder, though may not be required to take an intensive bowling load over the coming days in Nottingham. 'I've obviously been training a lot over the last two months and got myself back as close as I possibly can to match intensity,' he said. 'But this will be my first game in a while. There is a bit of a gap between how far I can push myself in training and a game. 'I've done all the work I need to to get out there and bowl some overs, but I've got to be mindful of where I am and build myself back up to proper match workload for later on in the summer. I'm not getting any younger.'
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
England Should Beat Zimbabwe But Need The Sound Of The Crowd
England kick off a huge six months in their Test match calendar this Thursday when they welcome Zimbabwe to Trent Bridge for a four-day red-ball game. The last time the Chevrons came to play the long format in the United Kingdom, Jimmy Anderson took five wickets on debut as a callow 20-year-old with peroxide streaks. Twenty-two years later, Anderson is still plugging away for Lancashire. English cricket has only just moved on from the days when Anderson opened the bowling after his retirement at Lord's last year. The 42-year-old's sidekick was Nottingham's favorite seam sheriff, Stuart Broad, who quit after his self-scripted swan song at the 2023 Oval Ashes Test. Test cricket's older generation is succumbing to Father Time. Both were loved by the public and the travelling Barmy Army. Now English fans are having to relearn how to, ahem , appreciate the new breed led by Gus Atkinson and company. The big body blow for the ECB, BCCI and cricket's global appeal has already been delivered with the consecutive retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli earlier in the month. India's visit is the big summer festival, but the theater of Test cricket has been punctured as the most Googled cricketer in the world won't adorn the stage. Brand Kohli means eyeballs and guaranteed clicks. June 20's opener at Headingley feels greyer already. After winning low-key series against the West Indians and Sri Lankans last season at home, England start their preparation for November's huge Ashes opener in Perth against a team that isn't even included in the World Test Championship. Australia may well have retained the mace by the time Ben Stokes's squad arrive down under. The Zimbabweans are coming with a spring in their step and a hectic schedule of their own. The country has come a long way since becoming the first Full Member of the ICC to be suspended in July 2019, having its funding frozen and being in debt to the tune of $27 million. They are playing more Tests in 2025 than their hosts, although they arrive ranked tenth and bottom of the Test rankings below Bangladesh. How long they remain competitive in the middle at Nottingham is less certain. The weather may have a say in the game, but the team is a rain or shine mix of raw talent and grizzled veterans. The squad is led by 39-year-old Craig Ervine, who has played 25 Tests over 14 years, while another almost fortysomething, all-rounder Sikandar Raza, has also been recalled. Raza is third in the ICC's one-day international rankings for all-rounders and seventh in T20Is. He has played only one Test in the last four years. Exiting teenage paceman Newman Nyamhuri is included, but it is the 6-foot-8-inch frame of Blessing Muzarabani that could provide the Heath Streak wow factor. Muzarabani has claimed 26 wickets in his last four matches and was signed up by Royal Challengers Bengaluru as a temporary replacement for Lungi Ngidi in the IPL. Ngidi is joining up with South Africa in preparation for the World Test Championship against Australia at Lord's on June 11. As for England, Brendon McCullum is in charge of Test and white-ball missions now and, if anything, he has upped the lexicon of pre-cooked positive power phrases, declaring that his side should 'shoot for the stars.' McCullum's remarks about winning the big series under the bright lights against the best feel a little out of place given the current opposition in front of England right here, right now. At least McCullum didn't say that his pacemen bowl "absolute rockets" as that didn't help them progress in the Champions Trophy. The XI for Trent Bridge includes a debut for 27-year-old Essex seamer Sam Cox, whose deliveries will never be clocked for speeding. Cook is all about accuracy rather than pace, an Angus Fraser without the hangdog expression. Josh Tongue memorably bowled David Warner in an erratic Ashes debut at Lord's in 2023 and might get the pulse racing on the speed gun. England have won 22 Tests out of 35 since McCullum teamed up with skipper Ben Stokes in 2022. After a rapier start of ten wins out of 11, the results have tailed off. India beat them 4-1 and Australia crucially took the first two Tests of the Ashes series in 2023 to retain the urn. England's left field selections are bold but difficult to rely on in extremis and they were slow to tweak the stand-and-deliver style of Bazball with a bit more strategic thinking. Stokes want to carry the hopes of a nation and bring the spectators with him on a journey that includes entertainment and winning. Parts of their Bazball lexicon has caused consternation with the likes of Ben Duckett suggesting that the team should take credit for the way other teams bat aggressively. The coach has called for more humility among the ranks 'so that we don't lose touch with the English people.' There's a historical precedent for this. In 2013, English cricket had fallen from grace after been the No. 1 team in the world just a year earlier. As ESPNcricinfo wrote: 'There was something about England's cricket team, even when winning….that did not entirely connect with the public mood.' That was in some part more to do with the intensity and micro-management of Andy Flower, and the rather methodical plod of a team that was past its sell-by date. McCullum and Stokes want cricket to be a show without result-driven data blocking freedom for players to express themselves. Fans don't like the players doubling down on methodology with bravado. Even managing director Rob Key called for a halt to talking 'rubbish.' While McCullum baulks at talk of being ruthless, he waxes lyrical about Stokes's relentless drive. Where does entertainment stop when the results don't take care of themselves? Twenty years ago, England's Ashes heroes were cheered by tens of thousands in the streets of London on top of a double decker bus with the nation enjoying the cricket zeitgeist for a wild ride. This team still needs to reel in supporters through words and deeds to feel half the love that Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen and company felt in that magical summer. England's cricketers are about to take on the other members of the Big Three. If they fail to take Australia and India down this time, then the fans will question whether the bold words are enough without the big wins. Being the best isn't always about thrilling the crowds.
Glasgow Times
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
One more place to go – Ben Stokes targets top spot in Test rankings for England
Sir Andrew Strauss was the last England skipper to reach the summit back in 2011, holding the title for less than a year, but the annual update of the International Cricket Council's table recently catapulted Stokes' side from fifth to second. Only rivals Australia remain above them. When he took over from Joe Root in 2022, the team had slumped to sixth and their lowest points tally in 27 years, but have since won 22 of their last 35 matches. England have moved up to 2nd place in the latest ICC Test rankings 📈 It follows a run of three series wins in the past year 🏴👏 — England's Barmy Army 🏴🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) May 5, 2025 With Thursday's one-off game against Zimbabwe followed by a five-match home series against India and a huge Ashes trip Down Under to come this winter, further successes could lift them back to top. And Stokes made his ambitions plain in a message to head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key. 'When the rankings came out, I did send Baz and Keysy a text saying, 'We've got one more place to go',' he said. 'Everyone knows when things are going well for us as a team we are incredibly hard to stop. We know it doesn't always go that way. 'The word 'ruthless', I'm not a big fan of. The words I do love and what I've tried to instil in this team is 'dominance' and 'dominate'. 'Whatever situation we find ourselves in the game, that's the word I want to be at the front of our heads. 'We have Zimbabwe now and that's our sole focus at the moment. We know what we have coming up, but we will deal with the challenge of Zimbabwe then as we get closer to India starting, turn our focus to that.' England finished a subdued fifth in the most recent World Test Championship table, a curiously uneven structure that rewards teams with gentler fixture lists and heavily penalises slow over-rates. Stokes has been an outspoken critic of the formula in the past and suggested England's rankings rise bolstered his case. 'I did make some comments around the World Test Championship and they might make a little bit more sense now, considering we've jumped up to second,' he said. This week's match at Trent Bridge represents Stokes' first competitive action since December, when he tore his hamstring in Hamilton. It was a recurrence of a similar injury sustained last summer, leading to a second successive bout of surgery and rehabilitation. Stokes is ready to get some overs under his belt against Zimbabwe (Bradley Collyer/PA) He intends to be back as a fully-functioning all-rounder, though may not be required to take an intensive bowling load over the coming days in Nottingham. 'I've obviously been training a lot over the last two months and got myself back as close as I possibly can to match intensity,' he said. 'But this will be my first game in a while. There is a bit of a gap between how far I can push myself in training and a game. 'I've done all the work I need to to get out there and bowl some overs, but I've got to be mindful of where I am and build myself back up to proper match workload for later on in the summer. I'm not getting any younger.'
