Michael Vaughan criticizes 43% Ashes ticket price hike at Edgbaston
Michael Vaughan has taken aim at a steep rise in ticket prices for next summer’s Ashes Test at Edgbaston, calling the 43% hike “really poor” and shining a harsh light on the cost of watching elite cricket in England.
The former England captain reacted on social media after it emerged that seats in Edgbaston’s famous Hollies Stand will cost £165 for the 2025 men’s Ashes – up from £115 during the 2023 series. The Hollies, a raucous, fancy-dress-filled cauldron that holds almost 6,000 fans, has long been marketed as one of the great days out in English sport. Next year, it will come with a price tag to match.
Across the rest of the Birmingham ground, members will be able to buy tickets for £92, while the cheapest adult seats for the first three days of the Test are set at £115. Every ticket also carries a £2.50 booking fee. For many regulars, that is the sort of detail that turns a grumble into a full-blown complaint.
The backlash comes against the backdrop of a golden, and lucrative, Ashes summer in 2023. That series finished 2-2 after Australia stormed to victories at Edgbaston and Lord’s before England roared back. The England and Wales Cricket Board later trumpeted the numbers: every day sold out in advance, total attendance above 545,000, and a sense that Test cricket in this country still crackles when the stakes are highest.
That success appears to have emboldened pricing for 2027. The ticket ballot opened on Wednesday and the escalation does not stop at Birmingham. At Lord’s and the Oval, the most coveted seats will cost £190 and £185 respectively, nudging the Ashes experience closer to the top end of the entertainment market.
Yet the present offers a warning the past did not. Despite Edgbaston’s capacity being reduced by the construction of an on-site hotel, next week’s third Test between England and Pakistan has not sold out. Adult tickets for that match range from £57.50 to £87.50 – significantly lower than the Ashes rates that have drawn Vaughan’s ire. If England v Pakistan at those prices is struggling to fill the stands, the question writes itself: how far can Ashes ticket prices stretch before loyalty snaps?
Upcoming Ashes Schedule
On the field, the schedule for England’s next attempt to reclaim the urn is already locked in. Ben Stokes’ side, beaten 4-1 in Australia last winter, will begin their quest at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on 18 June. Lord’s hosts the second Test from 30 June, before the Ashes circus rolls into Edgbaston on 8 July, where those £165 Hollies tickets will test both wallets and patience.
The series then moves south. The Utilita Bowl in Southampton will stage a men’s Ashes Test for the first time when it hosts the fourth match from 21 July, becoming the 10th UK ground to welcome cricket’s most storied rivalry. The Kia Oval will close the series from 29 July, a familiar stage for decisive Ashes drama.
For now, the noise is not about batting line-ups or bowling attacks, but about balance sheets and access. BBC Sport has contacted the ECB and all five Test venues for comment. The next move belongs to the administrators – and to the paying public, who will decide just how much an Ashes day out is really worth.
