MCC gets tough on profiteers

Full house at Lord's ... but at what price? © Getty Images

The Marylebone Cricket Club has said that it will get tough on members who are found reselling tickets, after a number of tickets were found on offer at up to ten times the face value.

MCC's 18,000 full members and 4,000 associates are entitled to apply for Rover tickets, which enable their friends and family to sit in reserved areas at Lord's which are not available to the general public. But such has been the demand this year, ticket applications went into a ballot and many members were unsuccessful, while others who did receive allocations were tempted by the high prices that tickets have been selling for on the open market.

Members themselves do not need to reserve tickets - they can just turn up on the day - but many buy Rover tickets to enable them to sit with their family and friends. But the conditions of sale are quite clear that the tickets cannot be resold.

Last week, Roger Knight, MCC's secretary, wrote to members warning them that the club was monitoring the situation and that action would be taken against any members found reselling tickets. The club has set aside money to buy any it finds, and this will enable it to identify those who bought them in the first place. It should be stressed, however, that the number of members involved are small - a club spokesman said it was "in single figures" - and that in some instances those tickets may never have reached the member.

MCC's committee has recommended that any individual found breaching the rules should have their membership suspended for between one and two years, and also have their right to apply for additional tickets withdrawn for up to five years. Some members, however, feel that this does not go far enough, and with an 18-year waiting list for full membership, they feel that offenders should be expelled from the club unless there are mitigating circumstances.

MCC are also monitoring the resale of tickets in other areas of the ground which have been sold to the general public, but find their way into the hands of unauthorised agents. Any person found selling their tickets in this way will be struck off the Lord's ticket mailing list, and if they are a member of any first-class county (whose membership receive priority when applying) then the relevant county will be advised.

The highest price currently on offer on ebay, the leading online auction site, is £560 for a pair of tickets for the first day of the Lord's Test, but offline tickets are changing hands for as much as £400 each.

What has really angered many is not that Ashes tickets are on the open market but that the ones for tomorrow's Tsunami match, where all proceeds are going to charity, have also been sold for a profit. "It is appalling conduct and deplorable that people are seeking to line their pockets from a charitable cause," said Iain Wilton, an MCC spokesman.

For some, however, the idea of making a quick buck hasn't quite gone according to plan. One would-be entrepreneur is offering a pair of seats in the Grandstand for tomorrow's Tsunami match in an online auction which ends tomorrow night - by which time the game will be over. Funnily enough, he has yet to receive any offers.