Alex Ismail
The myth that cricket is a boring sport is, I believe, only spread by those who have never had the right introduction to the game. Having played and watched the game from a young age, I fell in love with Cricket aged just 8 whilst watching a T20 Blast game at Trent Bridge, and for me, Cricket has only got better with age. University of Nottingham students, whether Cricket fans or not, are discovering, as I did many years ago, that some of the best entertainment Nottingham has to offer is at Trent Bridge, and it is quickly becoming a student favourite.
Whether it is for T20’s, ODIs, the Hundred or Test Matches, Trent Bridge is often sold out, and one of the first things you will notice about the ground is the atmosphere, one of the best for cricket in the UK. Cricket in Nottingham brings a diverse group of people together; students looking for a night out, stag dos in fancy dress, the Nottinghamshire faithful and the first-time attenders are just a few of the groups that contribute to an electric gameday atmosphere.
Weeknight T20s are currently the most popular format for students due to their fast-paced nature, and for the cricket newbie this is the format I would recommend, but for those more experienced I would suggest getting tickets to one of the Summer Test Matches and I guarantee you’ll be more than entertained!
Trent Bridge, on the other hand, is perfectly within a student budget
An essential part of a student night out is the cost, and often the extortionate costs of sports tickets prevent university students from attending. Trent Bridge, on the other hand, is perfectly within a student budget. With tickets to watch the Notts Outlaws in the T20 Blast and the Trent Rockets in the Hundred starting at just £10 and affordably priced, high-quality food and drink, it certainly won’t be your most expensive evening all year! On top of this, if you find you enjoy it and want to go to Trent Bridge often, membership is just £41 for under 21s and £94 for under 25s.
With the membership, you get access to all Nottinghamshire T20 and ODI group stage matches, priority tickets to knockout matches and hugely discounted England tickets. With all this included, the membership is a steal for any Cricket fans, and for anyone who would like to watch exciting, competitive sport regularly, Trent Bridge is the best place in Nottingham to go.
Trent Bridge also provides a successful team for students to support. Despite falling short in an excruciating game this year, the Notts Outlaws are famously successful in all formats of the game.
With multiple T20 and ODI titles behind them and star players such as Alex Hales, Ben Duckett and Haseeb Hameed and veterans such as Samit Patel leading this new team to the knockout stages year after year, the Outlaws are an easy team to support. Their success also contributes to Trent Bridge being a great place to visit, as everyone likes to watch an entertaining, winning team! And it’s not just Notts who have success at Trent Bridge, some of the highest ever international ODI scores have happened at Nottingham, so those lucky enough to get tickets to watch England play are rarely disappointed – though as we all know, you can never be certain of anything when England are playing.
No matter what year of your studies you are in at Nottingham, there’s never a bad time to visit Trent Bridge
No matter what year of your studies you are in at Nottingham, there’s never a bad time to visit Trent Bridge. Cricket is as good a form of entertainment as any you can find nearby, with cheap tickets, an incredible atmosphere, and several different forms of the game to discover, it should be high on your to-do list for your summer term.
Alex Ismail
Featured image used courtesy of [Ste Clayton] via [Unsplash]. No changes were made to this image. Image use license here.
In article image 1 courtesy of [@trentbridge] via [Instagram]. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of [@thehundred] via [Instagram]. No changes were made to this image.
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