Eight of 15 ICC Champions Trophy fixtures sold out

Dubai, May 11 (IANS) Eight of the 15 fixtures of the ICC Champions Trophy have been sold out with over 15,000 tickets picked up by fans over the past one week, the International Cricket Council said in a statement.

The Champions Trophy in England and Wales will be played from June 1 to 18.

The ticket sales, according to ICC, has already exceeded those for the Champions Trophy in 2013, which India won.

It also takes ticket applications to beyond 500,000 from 60 countries, since the ballot last September.

For England supporters, limited tickets remain for the game against New Zealand in Cardiff on June 6 but the matches against Bangladesh on June 1 and arch-rivals Australia on June 10 are already sold out.

All the matches involving India, as well as the semi-finals and final are also sold out.

Predictably, there was a huge demand for the India versus Pakistan, England versus Australia and the June 18 final at The Oval -- all of which were oversubscribed across every price band.

"The demand has been extraordinary so far but there are still limited tickets available for some matches across all venues," Tournament Director Steve Elworthy said.

"Again we stress that fans should only buy tickets from authorised ticket sites, which is why we are providing a resale service via www.icc-cricket.com/tickets. It will allow fans to sell any unwanted tickets at face value to fellow fans in a safe and secure way. This is the only way you guarantee a ticket and avoid disappointment," he added.