- November 18, 2020
- Posted by: SportsV
- Categories: Event News, Home News, Industry News, News, Press Releases
Following confirmation from the England and Wales Cricket Board, Lancashire Cricket has announced that the ticket ballot window for those wishing to attend the England versus India Test Match at Emirates Old Trafford next summer, is now open.
Emirates Old Trafford will host the pivotal fifth and final Test match of the 2021 series between England and the team currently ranked one place above them in the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings.
Next year’s fixture, provisionally set for Friday 10 September through to Tuesday 14 September, will be the tenth time India have faced England in a Test match at Emirates Old Trafford, with the Three Lions yet to lose to an Indian team in Manchester, registering four wins and five draws in the nine Tests.
Lancashire Cricket shares a long-held connection with India stretching back more than 50 years when Indian International wicketkeeper batsman Farokh Engineer joined the County in 1968. He would go on to become a true Lancashire legend and now serves as a Vice-President of the Club. Since Farokh retired, four further Indian Internationals – Murali Kartik, Dinesh Mongia, V.V.S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly – have represented the Red Rose with distinction.
Powering up
India is a key territory for Lancashire Cricket as it looks to build on its long-term relations and achieve its strategic aim to make the Club the second favourite team for all Indian fans. Earlier this year, the Red Rose hosted its pre-season training camp in Mumbai and, in a first for an English County, Lancashire Cricket matches in 2020 were streamed live to Indian fans on the subcontinent via the popular JioTV service.
Lancashire Cricket’s pre-season training camp followed on from two trade missions the Club have recently been part of. Last October, the Club’s senior independent director, James Sheridan, travelled to India alongside the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, as part of his inaugural trade delegation to mutually strengthen trade, investment and cultural links.
Then, in January 2020, Lancashire and England batsman Keaton Jennings led a three-person delegation including Sales Director Angela Hodson and Head of Marketing Christian Mullarkey, from the Club to network with prospective clients and agents in the country, highlighting opportunities in relation to next year’s Test match at Emirates Old Trafford, alongside Visit Manchester and VisitBritain.
Discussing the prospect of India’s return to Emirates Old Trafford, Lancashire Cricket Chief Executive, Daniel Gidney, said:
We are delighted to be welcoming the Indian Team back to Emirates Old Trafford for what we hope will be a pivotal Test in the Series. Last summer we were fortunate to host India and Pakistan’s ICC Cricket World Cup fixture and it was one of the best atmospheres our historic venue has ever experienced. We look forward to welcoming supporters back to the venue next year and we are excited to, once again, host the Indian team and its fans, whose passion for cricket is unrivalled.
Gidney continued:
In addition to the thrill of hosting two fantastic teams – featuring some of the most exciting players in the game – we are pleased to continue our long-term association with Indian cricket. In February, we staged our pre-season training camp in Mumbai and used the opportunity to deepen our relationships with a range of partners in the country. This activity is aligned with our strategic aim to make Lancashire Cricket the second favourite team for all Indian fans.
He added:
During 2020, we also made the ground-breaking move to live stream our matches and content from Lancashire TV to Indian audiences via the JioTV online platform, becoming the first English County to do so. We will continue to build strategic relationships that help the Club, and our brand, grow on the subcontinent.
Emirates Old Trafford is also thrilled to welcome back Pakistan for an International T20 against England, provisionally scheduled for Tuesday 20 July, 2021.
Safe in One Place
Pakistan played one Test match and three T20 Internationals earlier this Summer, as Emirates Old Trafford was transformed into a bio-secure bubble and hosted 21 days of International cricket.
After successfully hosting behind-closed-door matches – during which more than 3,500 Covid-19 tests were administered at the venue, with all tests returning negative results – Emirates Old Trafford launched the Safe in One Place campaign to share the knowledge and best practice gained from creating a bio-secure venue with the wider events industry.
The initiative saw the club share key guidelines for the wider events industry via the Emirates Old Trafford website and host a virtual roundtable with a panel of industry leaders, sharing key learnings from operating venues during the pandemic and discussing the future of the events and hospitality industry.
Emirates Old Trafford looks forward to welcoming back supporters for more major events in 2021. In addition to International and domestic cricket fixtures, next year will see the launch of the new ECB competition, The Hundred, with the Manchester Originals home games set to take place at Emirates Old Trafford. In addition, the venue will welcome American supergroup, The Killers, on Saturday 12 June.
Main image (top): MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JUNE 27: General view of play during the Group Stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between West Indies and India at Old Trafford on June 27, 2019 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley-IDI/IDI via Getty Images)
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