Australian and Indian fans could set Test crowd record in what’s been billed as ‘the biggest sports event of the summer’
General admission seats to the opening day of the Test have sold out for the first time since the Ashes in 2017, raising the prospect of a new attendance record.
Victoria
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Tickets to the first day of Melbourne’s iconic Boxing Day Test have sold out for the first time since 2017.
Public seats to the MCG showdown between Australia and India were exhausted on Tuesday, raising the prospect of a new record Test match attendance being set at the blockbuster. Melbourne already holds the record for biggest Test match crowd, with 91,092 people packing the MCG for the opening day of the Ashes clash between Australia and England on Boxing Day in 2013.
But that mark could fall, as Aussie and Indian fans flock to the Melbourne instalment of a series now locked 1-1 and full of heat as the five match series heads to Brisbane this weekend.
In a statement, Cricket Australia confirmed all available public tickets for day one of the Melbourne Test had been sold amid “enormous fan interest”.
“This year’s Boxing Day Test is the most anticipated MCG Test in recent memory,’’ it said.
“We saw fans turn out in record numbers for the Border-Gavaskar series at the West Test and Adelaide day-night Test, and with public tickets already exhausted for day one in Melbourne, we know there is going to be a huge turnout at the MCG.
“We’re also experiencing high demand for days two and three so we would advise fans to get their tickets now so they don’t miss out on the biggest sports event of the summer.”
It is the first time all general admission seats to day one of the Test sold out since the drawn Ashes match between Australia and England in 2017, when 88,173 attended.
The last time India visited Melbourne for a Test series in 2020, MCG crowds were restricted to less than 30,000 each day because of Andrews Government Covid restrictions.
When India toured in 2018, more than 176,000 cricket fans from Australia and overseas filled the ‘G’ across five days of the Boxing Day blockbuster.
More than 73,500 fans attended the first day of that Test.
But those numbers are expected to be smashed, with ticket sales this year at more than double those from the same stage in 2018/19.
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