Ticket confusion in Chittagong

By Phil Long Our man with the Barmy Army in Bangladesh

For the England team the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong will hold decent enough memories.

They enjoyed a thoroughly one-sided Test victory followed by an equally comprehensive demolition job in the first one-day international.

But for England's loyal band of travelling fans a different tale can be told.

It had all seemed to be business as usual on the morning of the second Test as a streamlined band of 40-odd fans made their way up to the ground from the various cheap hotels on Station Road.

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What we weren't expecting was to be told that to see the Test in Chittagong we'd had to fork out £20 for the privilege and no foreigner would be allowed to buy a 'local' ticket, costing 52p.

Now 20 quid's fine when you're out here for one Test match or you've got enough cash to large it in one of Chittagong's expensive hotels.

But it isn't the same for us lot.

So as we stood discussing these latest developments, the only tour group out here, closely followed by Pink Panther and his entourage, sauntered by us to take their place in the pavilion.

Now the England fans who follow the team to all parts of the globe know a scam when they see one.

Finally, the £10 tickets were halved in value and everyone was a little bit more happy Phil Long

A few taka quickly and quietly changed hands with some locals willing to help us out and we all took our places in the perfectly adequate 50 Taka a day seats.

If we thought things had reached their peak at the Test then we were very, very much mistaken when we rocked up for the first one-dayer.

With tickets in the Pavilion and Western Gallery being sold to local fans at £2 or £10 you can imagine our disbelief when we were told we'd have to shell out rather more for our tickets.

In fact, we had to pay £10 or £30 to sit in exactly the same parts of ground.

OK - it may not sound like an extortionate sum of money.

But just stop to remember that many of The Barmy Army are living on £40 a week.

I almost felt sorry High Commission Liasion Officer Mike Westbrook, who must have been looking forward to a pleasant day at the cricket.

What he instead got was 16 England supporters - the total Barmy Army contingent for the game - outside the ground asking for his assistance.

Finally, the £10 tickets were halved in value and everyone was a little bit more happy.

It had been a long and arduous journey through Bangladeshi bureaucracy, the hands of the High Commission and the cheap seats of the MA Aziz Stadium.

But an England victory is always great to see. I just hope these inflated prices are not a sign of things to come.