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NACC Blames Ticket Prices for Lack of Crowd at Edgbaston Test

England v India: Specsavers 1st Test - Day Three

The National Asian Cricket Council (NACC) chairman Gulfraz Riaz has blamed excessive ticket prices by the organizers for the lack of crowd in the ongoing first Test between India and England at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

He also feels that the organisers are trying to cash in on the Asian people's passion for cricket and the ticket prices for this match are almost double of what the fans paid to see the Test against Pakistan.

"The benchmark will be what the attendance is like at Lord's, Oval and Trent Bridge. But the pricing is a lot higher than previous Pakistan Test matches, so there's an element of cashing in, perhaps, on Asian communities' passion for cricket. From what I understand the prices are almost double of what they were for Pakistan Test matches in some cases. Out of the two communities, the Indian cricket community is a bit more affluent and maybe they were targeted," Riaz said.

The opening day of the first Test at the 25,000 capacity stadium on Wednesday here was witnessed by 18,159 spectators. That forced the organisers to reduce ticket prices for Wednesday's post-tea session but the attendance dipper further to just over 16,000.