England vs New Zealand 2021: Edgbaston Test to witness 70% occupancy, fans elated

The New Zealand squad for England 2021 are preparing to play a two-match Test series against their opponents in their backyard ahead of the World Test Championship against India which starts on June 18. The England vs New Zealand 2021 two-match Test series gets underway from June 2. The England vs New Zealand 2021 first Test will be played from June 2 to June 6 at Lord's cricket ground, while the second Test will be played from June 10 to June 14 at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham. In a major breakthrough ahead of the start of the series, around 70% spectators will now be allowed to attend the match at Edgbaston.  

Crowd to be allowed inside Edgbaston cricket ground 

According to the report by ESPNCricinfo, around 18,000 spectators will be able to attend each of the first three days of the Edgbaston Test with the match being deemed as a pilot event by the UK government. As per the report. it was feared that the crowd for the second Test was limited to just 25% of the ground due to Covid-19 restrictions. But Warwickshire announced on Wednesday that 70% capacity will be admitted. As per the report, spectators will be contacted imminently and asked to sign a consent form and take a lateral flow test. It is understood that they only need to wear masks when moving around inside the ground.  

As part of these government protocols, all ticket holders will need to be aged 16 and over. The report also states that the first Test of the series at Lords, which starts there on June 2, will be played in front of crowds of 25% capacity, or about 7,500 a day. The decision regarding increasing the capacity of crowds at Edgbaston comes after successful trials of allowing crowds inside the stadium. Recently there were around 20,000 spectators at the FA Cup final.

New Zealand squad for England 2021

Kane Williamson (C), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry
Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee,Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (WK), Will Young.

India vs England 2021

Following the conclusion of the Test series against New Zealand, the Joe Root-led England team will battle India in the Test series consisting of 5 matches. The first Test match in the India vs England 2021 Test series will begin on August 4 at Trent Bridge. The second and the fourth Test of the series will be played at Lord's. The third and the fifth match will be played at Headingley and Manchester respectively.

UK coronavirus cases

As per the tweet by thje Twitter handle of Public Health England, on Tuesday, May 25, the country reported 493 new cases and 15 deaths within 28 days of a positive test that was reported across the UK. overall  38,192,417 people have now received the first dose of a #vaccine & 23,228,511 have received the 2nd dose.

Image: England Cricket / Instagram