Fans flock to enthralling Test

England supporters watch the action at the Brit Oval from their roof top © Getty Images

Billed as the greatest Test series ever, the Ashes 2005 has gripped the nation.

The Brit Oval Test match is the biggest sporting occasion since the Rugby Union World Cup in 2003 and the ground has been sold out for all five days.

With England only needing a draw to reclaim the Ashes for the first time in 19 years, spirits amongst the England fans are high.

Wendy from East London paid five times the asking rate for her ticket to Thursday’s play and is hoping the England team will make it worth the expense.

“This is only the second time I have been to a cricket match, although I have followed England versus Australia for several years,” she told ecb.co.uk.

England and Australia supporters sing to encourage their team as play gets underway © Getty Images

“My husband is Australian so we have a bit of banter.”

In fact, Wendy’s first live match was the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy final at Lord’s last week (for which she won tickets in ecb.co.uk’s competition).

Both that and England’s successes have encouraged her to want to watch more county cricket and she agrees with Janine, a die-hard supporter of Surrey for the last six years, that Twenty20 cricket has played a large part in the game’s resurgence.

Janine said: “I definitely think cricket will see a considerable boost in spectator numbers after this Test series.

“Twenty20 cricket has played a huge part in attracting the crowds to Test matches.”

If England win the Ashes, then the new legions of supporters who have got behind the national team may well be as a result of the Twenty20 marketing brainchild.

Players such as all-rounder Andrew Flintoff have captured the imagination of the country © Getty Images

Wendy has another view, however, saying that, “The media has played a big part in generating excitement for the Ashes.

“The fact that it has been shown on Channel 4 and that there are more pages about cricket than football in the newspapers has meant that everyone has been made aware of what is going on.”

The stakes are high on England winning the Ashes, with Wendy having bet her Australian husband that whoever loses has to do the cooking for a year. Her husband, however, doesn’t seem too confident anymore.

He forfeited going to the Oval on Thursday, citing work as an excuse.

One Australian supporter who does have more faith in the national team is Breanna from Victoria in Melbourne. She is over in England on a work Visa and is another who paid over the odds for a ticket to see her country play.

She justified the money with, “It’s a big game and I’ve got to support the Aussies.”

Very few want to miss the captivating action unfold

She may be right. There seem to be very few Australian supporters in the ground. This could be because, “They cannot bare to watch as England finally have a chance of winning the Ashes back,” as Breanna remarked.

Or it could be that none of them thought it would be a contest by the time the series reached the fifth Test.

Either way, Ashes fever is high at the Oval and England and Australian supporters won’t forget it for a while.