Tickets for this year’s Australia-England Ashes Test cricket series were snapped up at a rate of ten per second when sales opened in Sydney on Thursday, Cricket Australia said.
CA said tickets for the five Ashes Tests had sold faster than for any other cricket series held here, with 182 000 bought on the first day.
The much-anticipated Ashes series gets under way in Brisbane on November 23.
Despite the huge demand, tickets were still available with 41 days of cricket on offer, CA said.
CA has set aside a minimum number of 635 500 tickets for the so-called Australian cricket family (ACF) out of an overall total of 720 000.
Members of the ACF had first chance to buy tickets as CA intended to give priority to Australian fans ahead of English supporters at the five Tests.
To qualify as ACF members, fans must have, at some stage, been Australian residents, be able to provide an Australian postal address and have registered by May 2. Members can purchase tickets from June 1-15.
In the initial rush on Thursday, ACF allocated tickets were sold out for the first three days of the second Adelaide Oval Test and for the first four days of the fifth Sydney Cricket Ground Test.
A total of 33 000 tickets for ACF members were sold for the opening Brisbane Test, 16 000 for the third Perth Test and 43 000 for the fourth Melbourne Test.
Tickets will go on sale on June 19 to the general public, non-Australian residents of the ACF and overseas fans. About 10% of tickets have been set aside for these customers, CA said.
All remaining tickets not bought during the ACF priority period will also be added to the pool of available tickets on June 19, CA said. – Sapa-AFP