ICC WT20 'free' tickets snapped up

ICC WT20 All the free tickets for Under-16 fans to attend ICC World Twenty20 West Indies 2010 matches are gone!

Tournament organisers today revealed that, as anticipation builds towards the April 30-May 16 event in the Caribbean, more than 2,500 free tickets for Group Stage fixtures have been snapped up for young cricket enthusiasts to enjoy the thrills of the bat-and-ball duel.

"There has been an overwhelming response to this incentive and we take this as a sign that a wide cross-section of youth will be attending ICC WT20 2010," said Project Officer ? Ticketing, Ms Carla Henry-Baker.

"We had reserved ten per cent of the public ticketing pool per Group Stage match as free tickets for Under-16s and this complement of tickets has been exhausted. What this likely means is that parents, guardians and even older siblings will also be attending matches as the only way to have accessed the free tickets for Under-16s was by purchasing at least one ticket for the same game for which the Under-16 tickets were being requested.

"This offer of free tickets was definitely a 'special' as there is usually a standard ticket price for the annual West Indies' Home Series which must be paid by all fans regardless of age. We are pleased with how it has been received by the public."

This initiative by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to encourage young fans to support ICC WT20 WI 2010 pertained to men's Group matches in Barbados (578 free tickets), Guyana (996) and Saint Lucia (1,010) as all women's preliminary fixtures in St. Kitts are free. Now the quota of free tickets has been distributed, Under-16 fans will have to buy Group Stage tickets at the regular price. However, there are still discounted tickets for Under-16s for the Super 8s, Semi-Finals and Finals. Each match day features double-headers.