The World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand in Southampton will be held in the presence of 4000 spectators, Hampshire County Club head Rod Bransgrove has said. Recently, about 1,500 people were allowed entry for the English County Championship match between Hampshire and Leicestershire at the Rose Bowl venue which will be hosting the WTC final from June 18. "We're staging a four-day county game from today and for the first time since September 2019 fans were allowed for a cricket match in England. The other county games of this round will begin tomorrow and those games too will see crowds," Rod Bransgrove, the head of Hampshire County Club, told Cricbuzz on Wednesday.
Bransgrove told the website that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the ICC are permitting a crowd of "4000 people" in the eagerly-awaited clash. "I understand 50 per cent of the permitted crowds will be taken by the ICC for its sponsors and other stake holders and we will be selling the rest 2000 tickets. We have already received more than double applications from the fans," Bransgrove said. "It is a high interest game and there is a good demand for it. "The Hampshire County has also been asked to hand over all the Corporate Boxes at the Rose Bowl but Bransgrove hopes they will have some share on that too. "Given the travel restrictions and quarantine protocols I am not sure how many of ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India members will come for the game. We will be happy to sell those tickets too," the veteran administrator said. The Indian team, currently quarantining in Mumbai for two weeks, depart for the UK on June 2. Virat Kohli and his men will undergo a 10-day quarantine in Southampton but are expected to be allowed to train during the period.
