An extra 850 seats will be added to Warwickshire’s Edgbaston stadium ahead of its packed schedule of cricket matches for 2018.
Edgbaston has teamed up with Arena Seating to add another tier of seating above the Stanley Barnes Stand at the Birmingham End of the ground.
Edgbaston is England’s largest cricket venue outside of London and this year it will host seven major match days, including England’s Twenty20 match against Australia on June 27, the first Test of the five-match series against India on August 1-5, and the Vitality Blast Finals Day on September 15.
Gareth Roberts, commercial director at Warwickshire County Cricket Club, said: “This will be the third time in the last four years that we have brought in the temporary stand, which is a direct result of the popularity of the fixtures that we’re hosting.
“The Vitality IT20 is now 75 per cent per cent sold out, whilst year-on-year ticket sales for Vitality Blast Finals Day are 170 per cent up on last year and could sell out before the group stages of the tournament get underway. We’ve also seen huge demand for day three (Friday) of the Test match against India, which will be a very special occasion as England’s 1000th Test.
“With another outstanding allocation of matches to come next year, there is every chance that we work with Arena Seating to boost capacity again.”
Edgbaston will host five matches during next year’s Cricket World Cup, which will be held in England and Wales for the first time since 1999. It will also host a Test during England’s Ashes series against Australia.
Edgbaston was recently awarded the second biggest allocation of major matches scheduled for between 2020 and 2024, including a Test match in four of the five years, three one-day internationals, three T20s and all five Finals Days of the Vitality Blast.
The ground will also host one of the eight teams in the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) new T20 competition, which launches in 2020.
Image: JimmyGuano
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