Free tickets at last ... but still too late

The World Cup is coming in for some flak about its (lack of) organization, so here’s a heartwarming tale, or so you would think. For the England and Sri Lanka thriller on Wednesday, the Local Organizing Committee announced that they were offering Antiguan and Barbadian residents free entry to the match.

The offer was for two tickets per person and aimed to redress the inflated ticket pricings that had priced the locals out of the market, in a bid to fill up the stands. So far, so good. The only problem was the announcement came half-way through the match, too late for most to head on down.

Our man on the spot, Andrew Miller, rang the committee to find out whether this grand gesture of free entry was going to be repeated for England against Australia on Sunday, also at Guyana. Apparently not.

"For the last three games we have been distributing free tickets to youth clubs and church organisations to pack the stands with young people," said an LOC spokesman. Err ... clearly. As Andrew noted, with even a hint of advance notice, the Guyana stadium could be full for that game.