Ashes ticket meltdown angers Australian fans

MELBOURNE, Jun 1 (Reuters) As if losing the Ashes for the first time in 18 years was not bad enough for Australian cricket buffs, thousands of angry fans will now miss the rematch later this year after a chaotic first day of ticket sales.

An unprecedented stampede for tickets by members of the Australian Cricket Family (ACF) left countless supporters frustrated and forlorn as telephone booking lines were jammed and internet sites paralysed by demand.

''My best assessment would be what a joke!'' fan Grant Hutchinson wrote on the Cricinfo Web site.

''I signed up for ''priority'' ticketing and have nothing. The whole Australian Cricket Family exercise has been useless.'' The Australian Cricket Family was a registry started earlier in the year to ensure home fans had access to larger numbers of tickets in the face of a predicted huge demand by travelling supporters from England.

There are over 128,500 members currently registered, but the demand generated by the exhilarating Ashes series in England in 2005 appeared to be unquenchable as thousands of eager fans were left disappointed.

''I became part of the Australian Cricket Family but feel like a stepchild,'' wrote supporter Chris Flaherty.

''I was in England last year when Australia lost the Ashes so I need to witness revenge.'' GENERAL SALE Cricket Australia (CA) officials said the demand had reached unprecedented levels with more than 161,000 tickets being sold in the first six hours of sales on Thursday.

Whatever tickets remain from the current feeding frenzy will go on general sale to the public on June 19.

''We've sold 160,000 tickets, I think from that it's a fair indication that all the ticketing agencies are operating at full throttle,'' CA chief executive James Sutherland told reporters.

''When you've got that sort of demand and activity it's inevitable there will be some bugs along the way.

''For example, at Melbourne there are still heaps of tickets available for day one. But if they are looking for tickets for the Sydney test match then they are going to be disappointed.

''We understand that, due to the volume of interest, systems are sometimes slower than expected and this is naturally frustrating for our customers and fans.

''However, I would urge all members of the Australian Cricket Family to continue to be patient.'' The ACF allocation for the first four days of the fifth and final test in Sydney sold out in hours, as did the first two days of the second test in Adelaide.

Australia play England in five tests, starting with the opener in Brisbane on November 23.

REUTERS PM VV1459