WATCHING Chris Gayle smash the England bowling attack around the Oval yesterday was a sight to behold as he played one of the most destructive 50s you will ever see.

There is nothing too unusual about Gayle teeing off. And there were plenty of people in the ground to see it – but that is something of a surprise given the quite astonishing cost of tickets.

Cheapest ticket was £25 – and you could only buy one of those if you were taking an under 16 with you. For people without kids the cheapest tickets were £57 then £69 and they rose to a quite frankly appalling £98.

The money being asked for tickets is a disgrace. At least when the Aussies turn up at Old Trafford next month the prices start at a more ‘reasonable’ £45 and rise to £60 – but then again Old Trafford is a building site.

On the gate prices for Lancashire’s T20 games are hardly a bargain either and it costs £19 to get in, except when Yorkshire come over the Pennines. Tickets for that game are £21.

At a time when the country is on its knees it seems daft for the sport to be trying to compete with the rip off that is football.

It is surely time for people to vote with their feet until the prices are brought to a realistic level.

The Aussies manage it. Top tickets for a Test match at the Gabba in Brisbane equate to just £35.60 and for a one day international at the same venue the price is 25 dollars – a shade over £16.

It’s rare for me to suggest this, but maybe we should follow the lead from Down Under.