THE first four days of next year's Ashes Test match at Trent Bridge sold out within hours of going on general sale yesterday.
The ticket office's hotline and online booking system saw unprecedented demand, with 9,500 people queuing online at one stage. Some fans had to wait two to three hours to secure their tickets for the Australia clash. Others gave up.
The club said 22,000 tickets had been snapped up within six hours of going on sale at 9.30am. Others had already been bought by members.
Club chief executive Lisa Pursehouse said: "We have a great tradition of selling out Test matches at Trent Bridge and we are extremely pleased to have handled so many transactions in a single day.
"We wish to thank all of the ticket buyers for their patience in waiting in line to have their call answered or to get through to our online sales page.
"Our system prioritises those who have been in the queue for the longest and we have processed more transactions today than ever before.
"We have set a new record for the number of tickets sold in a single day and that is testament to the passion of England fans in the East Midlands and the dedication of our ticket office staff."
The match, from July 10-14, will be the first of the five-Test series. It will be the first Ashes Test at the ground since England won the crucial fourth Test there in 2005.
Dave Rhodes, 24, of Mapperley, was one of those who persevered and was rewarded, getting his tickets booked after a three-hour wait. He said: "I'm very pleased to get tickets. It will be great for the city to host the opening Ashes Test and a major event of 2013."
Mike Cooper was also successful. He tweeted: "Thank you @TrentBridge. Ashes 2013 sorted."
Some fans, meanwhile, were left frustrated. Adrian Keys, 33, of Doncaster, opted to buy tickets for the second Test, at Old Trafford, after failing to get past the queue page on the club's website despite waiting for two hours. He was able to buy five tickets from Lancashire's website within ten minutes of accessing it and said: "I think Lancashire's system is run by Ticketmaster, which helps, something Notts could look at for the future."
Some people didn't manage to secure tickets at all and tweeted their annoyance at missing out on the opportunity to see one of the biggest sporting contests of 2013.
@trickytree52 tweeted: "42 phone calls to Trent Bridge later and I still don't have Ashes tickets."
@Claire_Holmes tweeted: "Been in the online queue for three hours but now it doesn't seem to be moving any closer to the end. #help."
