The Melbourne Cricket Club will review the controversial ticket allocation to members after another embarrassing crowd shortfall on day one of the fourth Ashes Test.
Australia’s third-Test win in Perth had raised expectations of a one-day Test attendance record on Boxing Day.
But the crowd of 84,345 was well short of the 90,800 record, also set at the MCG, and there were big blocks of empty seats on the top deck of the members section.
It follows the AFL grand final replay in early October, where the league was also unhappy that the members’ section was not full.
“From an MCC point of view, given the shortfall within the MCC members reserve, the club will have to review the method of allocating tickets for major events such as the Boxing Day Test and AFL grand final,” MCC chief executive Stephen Gough said in a statement.
“Given the anticipation of a record attendance for this crucial encounter between Australia and England, the attendance was less than we had predicted.
“As such, we will assess the Test match in its entirety as part of this overall review.”
The MCC said the capacity for day one was 96,500, meaning a shortfall of 12,000.
Gough said roughly half the shortfall was due to public, corporate or AFL members tickets and the other half – or 6000 – was attributed to the MCC members.
It is a growing point of contention that the members’ section is not fully ticketed for major events such as Boxing Day or the grand final.
Members can queue outside the ground up on the morning of the game without having to book seats.
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