Chaos at the cricket: Ticket frustrations for fans on day one of The Ashes

  • Queues stretched around the Edgbaston Stadium to watch the first ball played as the Ashes begins - but fans weren't happy about the wait.

As thousands gather to witness test cricket's greatest spectacle, which sees the Aussies chasing their first win on English soil for more than two decades, fans face frustrations with their tickets.

With the first day of The Ashes underway, people flew from all over the world - however they had one hurdle to overcome before they could cheer on their respective teams.

One fan told ITV News Central: "This is the worst we've seen it, it's pretty poor organisation - we get tickets every time the ashes are on."

Fans were met with an "invalid ticket" message on their phones as they hurried to show their entry pass. The error message came as the Edgbaston app was allegedly experiencing network connect issues.

One fan was left to listen to the roars of the crowd from outside the stadium as the match was well underway.

"I've been here 40 minutes and it's the first ball of the ashes, day one. This is the sort of thing you live for and I'm standing out here listening to it, crazy!"

"They sent the tickets several days ago, it was fine. I could see the ticket on my phone, I even checked this morning when we got out of the taxi just to make sure. I've got here and I'm just getting the same screen saying it's 'invalid'."

Cricketers from both England and Australia wore black armbands to “show solidarity” as they took to the field Credit: PA Images

The angered spectator describes seeing fellow cricket enthusiasts moving away from the long lines to find internet connection in hopes their £100 plus ticket will appear on the app.

"People are walking away trying to get wifi or hotspot but it's a joke. we can't even get this right. Why can't we just have paper tickets or don't rely on an app because it's rubbish."

A spokesperson for Edgbaston Stadium, said: “The vast majority of spectators, around 90 per cent, were scanned into the ground by 11am ready to see the first ball bowled and there were no queues before 10.15am.

“Enhanced security was in place at the stadium on entry, including bag checks, in light of recent protests at sporting events. Spectators were asked to arrive early to avoid queuing and we would urge people attending for days two to five to please follow that advice.

“Some people who logged into the Edgbaston App for the first time at the point of entry did experience issues trying to access their digital tickets. This was due to a high volume of people trying to log in at the same time. The issues were soon resolved.”