Oval Ashes profiteers caught out

With the new OCS Stand a The Oval capacity is up to 23,000

Some lucky cricket fans who thought they had failed to get tickets for the final Ashes Test at The Oval have been given a second chance to attend.

Around 300 people who tried to resell tickets and broke the terms and conditions have had them cancelled.

That means around 1,500 tickets for each day have been re-sold to some of the 20,000 fans who went on the waiting list for tickets back in November 2004.

All the reclaimed tickets have now been sold and all five days are sold out.

"People are still phoning up but we're keen to let everyone know we are sold out for all five days," Surrey spokesman Sam Stretfeild told BBC Sport.

Capacity at the redeveloped Brit Oval is now 23,000 following the completion of the OCS Stand at the Vauxhall end of the ground.

Stretfeild also warned fans who are attending the game to arrive in good time due to security checks.

"Security is quite tight with personal and bag searches so we're encouraging people to get there early to enjoy a full day's cricket," he said.

Tickets for the fifth and final Test are selling at over £600 for a pair on auction website ebay.

The leading bid for one pair of tickets for the fourth day is currently £625.87, with more bids arriving every hour.

And a pair of tickets with full hospitality for the same day has attracted a bid of £1,000.

A pair of tickets for the fifth day has attracted a bid of more than £350.

So far only one Test this series has made it into a fifth day and that was the drawn third Test at Old Trafford, where rain meant most of the third day's play was washed out.

The authorities at Old Trafford had not pre-sold tickets for the fifth day and were forced to turn away more than 15,000 people.