30,000 attend successful Cheltenham Festival
31 July 2019
Gloucestershire celebrated a successful Fergal O’Brien Cheltenham Festival both on and off the field after a closely-fought two-wicket victory over Middlesex in the Vitality Blast on Thursday night.
Victory in front of a full house of 5,000 at the College Ground not only secured Gloucestershire their first win of the Blast but also put the exclamation mark on one of the most financially successful Cheltenham fixtures ever.
Two sell-out Blast crowds and an average attendance of around 2,000 at two Specsavers County Championship fixtures, which both lasted the full four days, have ensured a healthy boost to the club’s finances.
There were only two days affected by bad weather, the Blast match against Glamorgan which had to be abandoned with only 15.3 overs bowled and the second of the three Under-19 tri-series games between India and Bangladesh.
“While attendances for the opening Championship game with Leicestershire were slightly below expectations, overall it has been a fantastic Festival,” chief executive Will Brown said.
“Hospitality sold really well this year and there was some brilliant cricket. The way the Leicestershire game finished was unbelievable drama.”
Gloucestershire were due a change of luck with the weather after two of the three World Cup matches they staged at Bristol were abandoned without a ball bowled.
By contrast Thursday’s win over Middlesex was played in sweltering conditions as Cheltenham-born Miles Hammond delighted his home crowd with 63 from 35 balls to set up victory.
It followed Gloucestershire’s last-gasp wins over Leicestershire and Worcestershire at Cheltenham in the Championship, which elevated the county into the Division Two promotion places.
The Cheltenham Festival concluded with three Under-19 international one-day matches over the weekend.
England faced India in the first of the three games in another match that went right down to the wire. The Young Lions aided by Gloucestershire’s Ben Charlesworth took their first victory in the competition in front of 2,000 supporters at the College Ground.
Bangladesh closed out the Festival with a win over England despite the best efforts of Charlesworth who contributed yet another half-century to the English cause.
The Cheltenham Cricket Festival once again showcased its value to the Club and the supporters from the north of the county. The longest running cricket festival in the world shows no signs of slowing down.
