• The forums will be unavailable for a few hours on Saturday 6th June, when they do return they will initially be in a degraded state with some features missing, but normal posting/reading will be possible. The main website will not be affected by these updates.
    New user registrations are currently disabled.
    Some other features of the forum are also currently disabled.

going to Oz for the Ashes

I went 94/95 to Sydney with my brother for a month, sure we got tickets out there for test and 1 dayer. The atmosphere in Sydney was class, we got ‘adopted’ by some expats who invited us for Xmas dinner and took us to a massive house party on NYE, was a wonderful experience. Didn’t talk to my brother for a week when I got home, he is a Cov Shity fan mind 😳
 

tunstallhill said:
anyone ever been? we've wanted to go for years and thinking of going for the 4th Test next xmas in Melbourne.

obviously the ground is massive, but is it easy enough to get tickets?

i see there are a few tour operators online, like The Barmy Army and a few others that offer packages including ticket, hotels and busses etc.., does anyone have any advice?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Been over twice. 2002/3 and 2010/11.

Even though the MCG had a reduced capacity in 2002, I still managed to get a ticket ok.

They use different ticket agencies for different venues, I think Ticketek was one of them, but if you know anyone living in Oz, just join the CA website but use their address as somewhere to send tickets to (or as a billing address). That way you avoid having to wait for Aussies to buy their tickets first, if they impose any priority on buying them.

After that, it's better and cheaper to book you own accommodation/flights than to use an organised travel firm, and I include Barmy Army in that.

Drop me a PM if you need any help
tunstallhill said:
Might sound like a daft question, but do all 5 of the Melbourne tests sell out well in advance?
Click to expand...
Definitley not. Boxing Day will be close to full, 27th maybe 60,000 max but then it drops off dramatically - depending on how Australia are doing.

Day 5 in 2002 lasted 2 hours, with the Aussies having the game in the bag, yet there was still only about 10,000 there. Mainly England fans.

Same on Day 4 in 2010, but this time it was England celebrating.

2002 you could buy a general admission ticket that lasted all 5 days, but in 2010 they had individual tickets for each day.

Cheap as chips compared to what the ECB charge foe home tests.
 
Last edited:
Eggman said:
Been over twice. 2002/3 and 2010/11.

Even though the MCG had a reduced capacity in 2002, I still managed to get a ticket ok.

They use different ticket agencies for different venues, I think Ticketek was one of them, but if you know anyone living in Oz, just join the CA website but use their address as somewhere to send tickets to (or as a billing address). That way you avoid having to wait for Aussies to buy their tickets first, if they impose any priority on buying them.

After that, it's better and cheaper to book you own accommodation/flights than to use an organised travel firm, and I include Barmy Army in that.

Drop me a PM if you need any help

Definitley not. Boxing Day will be close to full, 27th maybe 60,000 max but then it drops off dramatically - depending on how Australia are doing.

Day 5 in 2002 lasted 2 hours, with the Aussies having the game in the bag, yet there was still only about 10,000 there. Mainly England fans.

Same on Day 4 in 2010, but this time it was England celebrating.

2002 you could buy a general admission ticket that lasted all 5 days, but in 2010 they had individual tickets for each day.

Cheap as chips compared to what the ECB charge foe home tests.
Click to expand...

That's class mate. Loads of good advice there.

I have people in Australia who can help to register and buy advance tickets, so sounds like I just need to find out where and when the Melbourne tickets go on sale and pre-registered with thier address etc.?
 
tunstallhill said:
That's class mate. Loads of good advice there.

I have people in Australia who can help to register and buy advance tickets, so sounds like I just need to find out where and when the Melbourne tickets go on sale and pre-registered with thier address etc.?
Click to expand...
You must be logged on to see external links
we stopped here both times. It's cheap, central and better than basic, but not 5* by any means. 15 minute walk to the MCG
 
Rip Van Fish said:
Yea but they want to sell you a hotel and match tickets package and it will be £1200-£1400
They wouldn’t entertain my lad who wanted to go to Multan next week (half term in Dubai) with tickets as he’s not bought their official package
Click to expand...
You could book a whole stand for yourself in Multan for any day of the test!
 
Keith S30S said:
You could book a whole stand for yourself in Multan for any day of the test!
Click to expand...
Could even push it to two
macum1920 said:
I went 94/95 to Sydney with my brother for a month, sure we got tickets out there for test and 1 dayer. The atmosphere in Sydney was class, we got ‘adopted’ by some expats who invited us for Xmas dinner and took us to a massive house party on NYE, was a wonderful experience. Didn’t talk to my brother for a week when I got home, he is a Cov Shity fan mind 😳
Click to expand...
We went in 94/5
Think it was an average of a fiver a day then
Mind you it was about 2.8 AUD to the £
Still top value mind
 
Last edited:
tunstallhill said:
anyone ever been? we've wanted to go for years and thinking of going for the 4th Test next xmas in Melbourne.

obviously the ground is massive, but is it easy enough to get tickets?

i see there are a few tour operators online, like The Barmy Army and a few others that offer packages including ticket, hotels and busses etc.., does anyone have any advice?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Depends what you want cheap rubbish tickets where they look like watching ants??

Or best seats in the house?

4 star hotels inclusive breakfast and dinner and drinks??? Plus a load more freebies with food and drink vouchers for the ground during play.

Free travel to and from the ground. And the airport and day trips on non cricket days as you be staying for a minimum of 9 days.

Or pay 5 times for any hotel accommodation during the test but the worst tickets in the ground and your own food. It is a lot cheaper with an tour.

I guess people don't include the cost of food drink and travel on their own?
 
I’ve done both methods of touring, but they were both in the nougties so the results were shit and they were both 20 years ago.

The organised tour offered a lot more in terms of extras, saving hassle, etc, and by all accounts has got better since. The tour we organised independently was definitely cheaper, but definitely more hassle. Was the former worth the money? Not for me, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a rip off either. It’s probably telling that I am thinking of going next time, in which case see you there, and I am looking to organise it privately. But it depends on where you value convenience against bottom line cost.
 
Fleagle said:
I’ve done both methods of touring, but they were both in the nougties so the results were shit and they were both 20 years ago.

The organised tour offered a lot more in terms of extras, saving hassle, etc, and by all accounts has got better since. The tour we organised independently was definitely cheaper, but definitely more hassle. Was the former worth the money? Not for me, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a rip off either. It’s probably telling that I am thinking of going next time, in which case see you there, and I am looking to organise it privately. But it depends on where you value convenience against bottom line cost.
Click to expand...
Is it even an inconvenience in this day and age? All you need to sort is flights and accommodation which is a a lot easier than 20 years ago to do as well as transport which has never been easier with the invention of uber. Public transport also extremely easy these days as it’s all built into your phones map application which even tells you how long it is until the next bus, train, metro etc…
 
Iamme said:
Depends what you want cheap rubbish tickets where they look like watching ants??

Or best seats in the house?

4 star hotels inclusive breakfast and dinner and drinks??? Plus a load more freebies with food and drink vouchers for the ground during play.

Free travel to and from the ground. And the airport and day trips on non cricket days as you be staying for a minimum of 9 days.

Or pay 5 times for any hotel accommodation during the test but the worst tickets in the ground and your own food. It is a lot cheaper with an tour.

I guess people don't include the cost of food drink and travel on their own?
Click to expand...
Couldn’t agree less.

Both times at the MCG I was easily able to get seats in the lower tier, in a long on, long off position.

Later in the game, when the ground isn’t anywhere near full, you can move around and take in different views of the action.

We got reasonably priced flights and city centre accommodation, at a fair price.

Do you really need someone to decide your itinerary on non match days ?

It’s more fun to go where you want and when you want.

For flights, use the internet orCourtenay Airsavers.

For hotels,book direct for the best prices.

One thing that almost caught me out was arriving in Oz at 2am - you need to book a room for the preceding night, so when you turn up 3am, you have somewhere to crash out and begin to suffer the jetlag
 
Eggman said:
Couldn’t agree less.

Both times at the MCG I was easily able to get seats in the lower tier, in a long on, long off position.

Later in the game, when the ground isn’t anywhere near full, you can move around and take in different views of the action.

We got reasonably priced flights and city centre accommodation, at a fair price.

Do you really need someone to decide your itinerary on non match days ?

It’s more fun to go where you want and when you want.

For flights, use the internet orCourtenay Airsavers.

For hotels,book direct for the best prices.

One thing that almost caught me out was arriving in Oz at 2am - you need to book a room for the preceding night, so when you turn up 3am, you have somewhere to crash out and begin to suffer the jetlag
Click to expand...
That is pretty much what I did in Brisbane. The ground wasn’t full any time during the match, so me and my mate swapped places a few times in different parts of the Gabba. Only part we avoided or didn’t even try to get to to, was where the barmy army was, it seemed a bit like trying to get into the away end at a football match when they were plenty of seats available everywhere else.
 
Proper bucket list stuff this thread, unfortunately wor lass wouldn’t entertain going to cricket at Durham never mind Australia 😀
 
seaham ftm said:
Is it even an inconvenience in this day and age? All you need to sort is flights and accommodation which is a a lot easier than 20 years ago to do as well as transport which has never been easier with the invention of uber. Public transport also extremely easy these days as it’s all built into your phones map application which even tells you how long it is until the next bus, train, metro etc…
Click to expand...
No, probably not. I did say it was 20 years ago, and that even then I didn’t think it was worth the extra money. But it depends how you value your time. And at least back then it was the devils own job to get tickets for the first day at the MCG. I had to pretend I was an Aussie friend of mine that I was at uni with to do it. I doubt that bit has got any easier.
 
Fleagle said:
No, probably not. I did say it was 20 years ago, and that even then I didn’t think it was worth the extra money. But it depends how you value your time. And at least back then it was the devils own job to get tickets for the first day at the MCG. I had to pretend I was an Aussie friend of mine that I was at uni with to do it. I doubt that bit has got any easier.
Click to expand...
Yeah that’s what I mean. I understand using them 20 years ago as everything would have been a hassle pre booking.com/skyscanner etc.
I genuinely don’t see the point nowadays for the likes of Australia though. Even if money was no object I’d still want to sort my own itinerary out.
 
seaham ftm said:
Yeah that’s what I mean. I understand using them 20 years ago as everything would have been a hassle pre booking.com/skyscanner etc.
I genuinely don’t see the point nowadays for the likes of Australia though. Even if money was no object I’d still want to sort my own itinerary out.
Click to expand...
Sure. And like I said, I am looking to go next time, I probably have more spare cash than I did 20 years ago, and I’m planning to arrange my own affairs. So you can probably take a lot from that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top