High demand prompts Edgbaston to secure additional seating for historic Test Match

Warwickshire County Cricket Club has reacted to high demand for England’s inaugural day/night test match by securing additional seating capacity at its Edgbaston ground.

As part of a commercial partnership with Arena Seating, Edgbaston’s capacity will be bolstered by 850 seats for each day of the Investec Test match with the West Indies, which takes place between August 17-21.

The club has said the stand will subsequently remain in place for the NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day on Saturday September 2.

Gareth Roberts, commercial director at Warwickshire CCC, said: “The reaction to hosting England’s first ever day/night Investec Test match has been fantastic, with 55,000 tickets already sold and the allocation for day two tickets having sold out prior to today’s temporary stand announcement.

“Additionally, 45% of all ticket buyers are new to Edgbaston, which suggests that the game is helping attract a new audience.
“Having brought in the temporary stand for the recent ICC Champions Trophy, we were keen to maximise this opportunity for this first day/night test match and give even more supporters a chance to witness history.”

The ground is proving to be one of England’s most secure, the team having secured six consecutive victories at the stadium, across all three formats of the game.

In addition to being England’s inaugural day/night test, the match also marks a major milestone for the ground itself as Edgbaston prepares to commemorate its 50th Test. England have won 26 of the previous 49 Tests, with 15 draws and just eight defeats.

Edgbaston was also a pioneer of day/night cricket having become the first cricket venue in the UK to host such a fixture in 1997, as Warwickshire beat Somerset in an AXA Life League match.

The Birmingham venue helped secure the right to stage the special test match after trialling a Second XI Championship match in day/night conditions last year between Warwickshire Second XI and Worcestershire Second XI.

As part of the preparations for England versus West Indies, there will be a full round of day/night Specsavers County Championship matches played across the country next week with Edgbaston hosting Warwickshire versus Lancashire from Monday (June 26).

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