Cork's knock shot in the arm for sales

England's exciting victory over West Indies at Lord's has been "just the ticket" as far as the next two Test Matches are concerned. Both Manchester and Leeds have reported an increase in inquiries following the match. That news is particularly welcome as these two venues, where Test Matches are due to start on 3rd and 17th August respectively, have been traditionally the least brisk centres.

Cork's winning innings has set the telephones ringing, particularly at Old Trafford where Lancashire had sold only 32,000 tickets for the first three days until that sensational finish. When the office opened there were at least two phone enquiries a minute - and another three thousand seats have been booked today.

Jim Cumbes, the county's chief executive, confirmed that success on the field provides a boost to marketing. And that at Lord's, being special, was more of a boost than usual. It is just as well because northern grounds are conventionally slow in advance bookings - people there are less willing to commit themselves too far in advance of the game. That's all changed now that the present euphoria has given interest in cricket a shot in the arm.

Cumbes added: "What England have achieved is not just a win to level the series - they have got everybody talking about cricket again".

The pattern is repeated at Leeds with Yorkshire reporting a substantial increase in sales.

The demand for cricket has been noticed on television as well. Channel 4 have announced that viewing-figures were greater than expected in having more than doubled its numbers from the 2.5 million average audience to 5.2 million who watched the climax at Lord's.