England offers free tickets to children
Following the England cricket team's successful Ashes campaign, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced a promotion that will enable children to watch Andrew Strauss' team for free at selected npower Test Matches and NatWest ODI matches against Sri Lanka and India this summer.
Designed as a way of thanking fans for their support over the winter, the ECB has, in partnership with participating international grounds, arranged an exclusive window that will provide people with the opportunity to get one free kid's ticket with every adult ticket purchased between January 11 and 18. Details of the matches included in this promotion can be found at www.ecb.co.uk/winners
The England team's goal is to become the number one ranked side in the world and this summer promises to be their toughest in a number of years as they play host to Sri Lanka, ranked fourth in the ICC Test Rankings, and India, currently the world number one team in world cricket.
Speaking about the fantastic support the team has received over the winter England captain Andrew Strauss said: "We really appreciate all the support we've received so far this winter. It's great to know that when we take the field the whole country is behind us. It's really helped inspire the team to retain the Ashes.
"Looking forward, our objective is to become the best team in the world and this summer we have the opportunity to do that as we take on Sri Lanka and India and we hope as many fans as possible can be there to support us."
Commenting on the promotion, Steve Elworthy, ECB Director Marketing and Communications said: "We are aware of the enormous following the team has received over the past few months and would like to thank fans across the country for supporting the team.
"The reaction across our twitter and Facebook platforms has been superb and shows how popular Test cricket continues to be across England and Wales. The Ashes victory this winter has set up a fantastic summer against Sri Lanka and India. If England performs well in both series, they have the chance to become the number one ranked team in the world. We hope this promotion will encourage fans to come to the matches and sample the fantastic atmosphere you get when watching live cricket.?
This initiative comes on the back of the ECB's digital campaign 'Follow Us' which provided a platform for fans to follow the Ashes across a range of new media platforms.
The campaign saw over 572,000 unique users visit the ECB's Ashes website during December, with the number of followers on twitter also rising from 17,000 to 31,000. A 'Fan's Ashes' Facebook campaign added over 56,000 new fans whilst Graeme Swann's video diaries had over 1 million views online.