Touring Cricket Fans Hit By Price Rise

England fans following the Test team in Sri Lanka have been forced to buy tickets for the opening game in Galle at ten times the price of the recent Australia series.

Entry for Sri Lanka’s Test match against Australia in September cost £2.50, but the majority of tickets for today’s action cost £25.

Around 5,000 English supporters have travelled to Sri Lanka for the two-game Test series, but complaints have appeared about a lack of information about where tickets can be purchased and at what cost.

Tour organising committee chair, Asanga Seneviratne, has said the new pricing structure had been introduced since he took office in January as a means to make Sri Lankan Test cricket more profitable, but refuted claims that the cheaper 1,000 rupee (£5) sections on the grass banks in the stadium would be opened exclusively to locals.

Sri Lanka Cricket Board secretary Nishantha Ranatunga had earlier stated that all supporters, both foreign and local, would pay 5,000 Sri Lankan rupees for general admission and 7,500 rupees for corporate boxes, although media reports indicate that this plan has since been abandoned.

The governing body ran up debts recently to improve stadia for the ICC Cricket World Cup last year – which they co-hosted with India and Bangladesh.