Edgbaston capacity to be increased for England’s inaugural Day/Night Investec Test match

Warwickshire County Cricket Club is reacting to high demand for England’s inaugural Day/Night Investec Test match against the West Indies in August by securing the use of a temporary stand to increase stadium capacity.

As part of a commercial partnership with Arena Seating, Edgbaston Stadium’s capacity will be bolstered by 850 seats for each day of the Investec Test match, which takes place from Thursday 17 to Monday 21 August. The stand will subsequently remain in place for NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day on Saturday 2 September.

Gareth Roberts, Commercial Director at Warwickshire CCC, said:

The reaction to hosting England’s first ever day/night Investec Test match has been fantastic, with 55,000 tickets already sold and the allocation for day two tickets having sold out prior to today’s temporary stand announcement. Additionally, 45 per cent of all ticket buyers are new to Edgbaston, which suggests that the game is helping attract a new audience.

 

Having brought in the temporary stand for the recent ICC Champions Trophy, we were keen to maximise this opportunity for this first Day/Night Investec Test match and give even more supporters a chance to witness history.

 

England will return to Birmingham on the back of six consecutive victories here, across all three formats of the game, and we hope that they can continue their great run at Fortress Edgbaston in August.

The Day/Night Investec Test match marks a key milestone for Edgbaston as the legendary venue’s 50^th Test. England have won 26 of the previous 49 Tests, with 15 draws and just eight defeats.

Edgbaston has a 20-year association with day/night cricket, after becoming the first cricket venue in the United Kingdom to host a day/night domestic fixture in 1997, as Warwickshire beat Somerset in an AXA Life League match.

The Birmingham venue helped secure the right to stage England’s first Day/Night Investec Test match by trialling a Second XI Championship match in Day/Night conditions last year between the Warwickshire Second XI and Worcestershire Second XI squads.

As part of the preparations for the England versus West Indies match, there will be a full round of Day/Night Specsavers County Championship matches played across the country next week, with Edgbaston hosting Warwickshire versus Lancashire from Monday 26 June.

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