Cardiff Ashes tickets sell out in hours

Tickets for next summer's controversial Ashes Test at Cardiff have been snapped up within hours of going on sale.

Cardiff was awarded an Ashes Test despite having a capacity of only 15,000 because of financial guarantees Glamorgan were able to give to the ECB. This was despite demand far outstripping the limited number of seats available at the redeveloped ground.

Six thousand tickets went on sale today and were sold by lunchtime. "We put 6,000 tickets on sale of which half went in the first hour," said Glamorgan finance and commercial director Alan Hamer. "We have had calls for months, not just from the UK but Australia as well.

"The first Ashes Test is the biggest cricket match in the world. It's great it's being played in Cardiff and hopefully it will create a legacy for Welsh cricket. We're keen to ensure as many people as possible come to see the game, so we limited how many tickets our members had to two each."

The next batch of 6000 tickets goes on sale in January.