Sluggish sales force ticket rethink

Repeating the old adage that all publicity is good publicity might not go down to well within the corridors of the West Indies Cricket Board.

Widely condemned for its tax on tickets sold to traveling supporters ahead of next month's England tour, the board has climbed down because of poor sales and will offer tickets for the first two Tests at face value. It is reported that advance sales for the Trinidad and Jamaica Tests have been poor, prompting the decision.

New Century Marketing, the London-based firm appointed by the board to co-ordinate sales in the UK, has until now steadfastly maintained that turnover was brisk, but yesterday was forced to admit to the Daily Telegraph that "bad press has affected sales".

Tickets for the Barbados and Antigua Tests - always the most popular matches - have been good, but surprisingly those for all the one-dayers - with the exception of the two games in St Lucia - have also been sluggish. Tickets for the first Test in Jamaica (March 11-15) will be available locally this week and will go on worldwide should be on sale worldwide at £93 on February 23, with tickets for the Trinidad Test costing £100.

The WICB launch an advertising campaign in the Caribbean on February 14 with a theme of "Get in De Game".