I have loads of tickets for cricket over the whole summer but as yet (awaiting the Headingley ballot fiasco results), none for a test match. Which is most annoying





I will however be going to Lords, The Oval, Trent Bridge, Old Trafford, Headingley and Durham over the course of the summer. Can't fooking wait

You a county member?

No mate, I'm not. I've been to the Headingley test of a series for the past four years, SA, West Indies, Pakistan etc. Generally, I get tickets as a Christmas pressie from the wife, I guess from Ticketmaster etc or a similar source, 2 tickets, generally the same block of the party stand, she books them nice & early, I give her a peck on the cheek, we all win.

This year, I think she made polite enquries, said they were like goldust, and had gone up from like £28 & booking fee, to like, circa £80 but couldn't get any for love nor money. To be honest, i'm gutted, I love my annual day out at the cricket, as an avid watcher getting up at daft o'clock when they are all over the world, actually spending a day there, watching it live, I don't think you can beat it, you get so much more out of it, get to appreciate the speed of delivery, batsmens footwork etc, anyhow i'm waffling, no mate, back to your point, not a member, no tickets.

Unlucky mate, commiserations.

I beleive Headingley is being redeveloped at the time of the Ashes test match so the capacity this year is gonna be less anyway (Great planning that



)

Apart from that, I was disgusted (and told Yorkshire CCC so) about the idea of a ballot system to allocate the general sale tickets and the fact that none would be available over the counter!!

Isn't that the fairest way to allocate tickets when demand is far bigger than supply?

I don't think so. I would usually take the time to find out when the tickets go on general sale and would be ready either with the telephone or the internet on the morning in question to ensure I get my tickets (because I am a cricket fan).

I now have an equal chance of getting tickets as some bloke who fills in his application form on the last day it is available who just thought he'd check out the Yorkshire CCC website for some reason!!!

There is also no preference given to regular visitors.

There will be people miss out on attaining tickets after the ballot.
There are people who would've missed out on attaining tickets by doing it the usual way.
So what is the difference??

Those that would've bothered their ar$e to make sure they got tickets by being on the ball are being punished.

But that system would be unfair on those whose work commitments prevent them from accessing the internet or making potentially lengthy telephone calls (holding in a queue) during working hours. There's no totally fair system, someone is always going to feel hard done by. At least you've got more chance than a Lancashire member of a ticket for an Ashes Test!

Excuses, excuses, excuses. I'm glad you are not in charge of our jaunts to sporting occasions. If you really want the tickets then you make provisions to make sure you get them!

(Unless the authorities decide to have a ballot instead



)

As for there not being a 'totally fair system', that is exactly my point. Yorkshire CCC have decided that a ballot is the fairest system. How do they arrive at that decision??, as you quite rightly point out there will still be people who miss out. So why change it?? Why should the people that have not been to a game of cricket since the last Ashes have an equal chance of getting tickets as somebody that goes every year regardless of opposition......

Or those that have jobs where you can't do this are being given equal opportunity to secure tickets.

Those who love cricket will be YCCC members who don't have a problem getting tickets. I didn't.

Had I known they where planning this ridiculous ballot I too would have become a member



Those that love cricket also follow the England team around the globe as I do

Don't "TwelfthMan" members get priority too?

Chance for Rashid and Shah to stake a claim for a test place. Will be an 11 a side game instead of the usual 12/13 player farces.

Side to face St.Kitts & Nevis (3 day game)

England XI: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Andrew Flintoff, Matt Prior (wk), Adil Rashid, Steve Harmison, James Anderson, Monty Panesar

[urlhttp://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wiveng2009/content/story/387701.html[/url

2nd ball duck for Strauss
100 for Pietersen

Shah (80 no) is staking his claim after Bell failed, Rash next one in be very interesting if he gets a few runs and out bowls Monty what they do?

Freddie out of the rest of the match with a side strain.

In any other test side in the world Owais Shah would have had a proper run in the team but with this being England then you cant rule out him still not being picked...Bell did "bat brightly" to get 36 so maybe he's coming into form...Im sure there'll be some feeble excuse not to pick Shah.

The biggest shocker for me from yesterdays score (424-8 declared) is that Harmison scored 58



Hopefully the Flintoff injury is just a niggle and not a proper injury...St Kitts have allowed Stuart Broad to play as a substitute too which is good of them

Harmy is always good for the odd swipe at the end

Shah's also out for the rest of this match with an eye injury, which I'm sure will give the selectors all the excuses they need not to pick him in the test side. Not heard anything about a replacement for him though.

As for Freddie, he's gone to Jamaica for a scan on his side strain. They did mention that he'd flown directly from St Kitts, and made it sound like it was a private plane rather than a scheduled service. Maybe I'm reading too much into that, but it does sound somewhat worrying.

St Kitts 202-7 at tea, 2 wickets each for Jimmy and Broad, 1 each for the other 3 (harmison, monty, deirdre)

Hopefully it's not serious. (He doesn't seem to know how it happened - "scratched cornea" apparently, which ddoesn't mean a lot to me.) He wouldn't have batted in the second innings anyway as those who missed out in the first were pushed up the order to get some time at the crease. And don't forget he's a county teammate of the new captain, which might make a big difference selection wise.

Decent run out, all the batsmen got runs and the bowlers shared the wickets, Monty did particularly well.

10 wickets in the match for our 2 spinners on a West Indies wicket

The captain isnt a selector any more is he?
Unfortunately I can still see them keeping Bell in the side