Huge wait times and tech issues as fans rush to secure Ashes tickets for this summer
The mad rush to secure tickets to this year’s Ashes series and Boxing Day Test has sent Ticketek into meltdown mode with some fans locked out and others losing their tickets.
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Irate cricket fans have taken to social media to vent their frustration over a virtual stampede for Ashes tickets, which dwarfed the initial demand for the recent series against India.
At one point the virtual queue was as long as 180,000 people as the first day of ticket sales for next summer’s Ashes took just two hours to eclipse the entire first day of sales for last summer’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India.
Tickets to the Ashes weren’t the only thing that had people flocking to the website – tickets for the AFL club members for the second half of the season also went on sale today along with tickets for South Korean rapper G-Dragon.
Fans shared on X that after setting their alarm for 4am to log on and be ready for the sale they couldn’t get onto the Ticketek website.
A Ticketek spokesman denied there were any technical issues and that Ticketek bot protection services ensured “legitimate fans‘’ secured tickets on what was the biggest one-day sale of tickets in Australian cricket history.
“We encourage all customers not to use multiple browsers when trying to access tickets,‘’ the spokesperson said.
“Our systems are designed to prevent and block access from bots, and customers attempting to access the site with multiple browsers may be flagged by our bot prevention service.”
“The demand for Cricket Australia’s Summer of Cricket today has sold at an unprecedented rate, all without issue.
“We recognise that when we have high demand events with limited inventory, that some fans will miss out and will be disappointed.‘’
A Cricket Australia spokesman said there were no reports of websites malfunctioning and that CA had tried to reduce the spikes in demand by making tickets on sale at different times in different cities.
Any luck? I’m 13k in the queue for Adelaide
— JS 🕵ðŸ¼â€â™‚ï¸ (@JoshA1889) June 3, 2025
One user wrote: “Any luck? I’m 13K in the queue for Adelaide”.
Some questioned if there was a glitch in the system: “Ticketek is taking the piss, nearly 180,000 people in front of me in the queue for Ashes tickets, it only holds 100K,” AdzyVilla shared on X.
Another said after sitting in the virtual queue and finally getting her hands on tickets the system kicked her out: “I’m actually fuming,” she wrote. “Just bought tickets to Ashes in Adelaide and Melbourne went on sale at 2 and it literally logged me out of my account as I hit submit payment for the Melbourne tickets.”
I’m actually fuming ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ just bought tickets to ashes in Adelaide, and Melbourne went on sale at 2 and it literally logged me out of my account as I hit submit payment for Melbourne tickets as it was taking 30 seconds at a time to go through the pages and it logged me out.
— Parker Lewis (@lizbianess) June 3, 2025
What a debacle @CricketAus and @Ticketek_AU trying to buy tickets for Sydney Ashes Test. Advised they go on sale at 3:00pm but there are 185,000 people already in line before then! Someone brilliant(NOT) came up with a new plan. Just madness and yes I'm mad too #Ashes
— Andrew Higginson (@andrewhiggo) June 3, 2025
Those able to wade through the virtual queue then had issues purchasing tickets.
“Was front of cue (sic) to get MCG Ashes tickets and unable to select more than 1 seat. Email explained I was able to buy 9 (needed 4).”
. @Ticketek_AU is your website down/bugged? Was front of cue to get MCG Ashes tickets and unable to select more than 1 seat. Email explained I was able to buy 9 (needed 4)
— Carsehole (@carsehole) June 3, 2025
Australia will play five Tests against England starting with Perth from November 21 before moving to Brisbane Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
Last summer, 837,000 fans watched the enthralling five Test series against India but CA officials are confident that mark will be eclipsed.
Originally published as Huge wait times and tech issues as fans rush to secure Ashes tickets for this summer
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