Warwickshire have ramped up security levels to mitigate the threat of activists running onto the Edgbaston pitch and disrupting the first Ashes Test, and have also prepared a spare pitch that will be used in the event that the playing surface is damaged.
Just Stop Oil, a coalition of environmental action groups, have disrupted a number of high-profile sporting events in the UK over the past 18 months including Premier League football matches, the final of rugby union’s Premiership and the World Snooker Championship.
“Like most high-profile venues, the security’s already tight,” Stuart Cain, Warwickshire’s chief executive, said. “We’ve had a severe terrorism threat for the last four or five years, so you do plan very rigorously to manage that. But obviously it brings another dimension on top with some of the things that have gone on.”
The ground have introduced enhanced bag-checks and pat-downs on entry and are encouraging fans to arrive early in order to ensure that they are in the seats in time for the start of play on Friday morning.
“If you rock up at 10.40am with a rucksack, hoping to get in at 10:45am for the anthems, you’re just not going to make it,” Cain said. “We’ve got protection like that and then we’ve got more protection around the ground and around the perimeter.”
The ICC and Surrey also prepared a spare pitch for the World Test Championship final at The Oval last week, while MCC took measures to protect the Lord’s Test against Ireland, which eventually passed without incident despite England’s team bus being briefly delayed by a protest in central London on the first morning of the match.
“It’s not unusual to have a spare wicket because who knows what might happen?” Cain said.
“But it’s just become a bit more pronounced this year because of some of the concerns about what might happen with different kinds of protest groups. We’re ready on the perimeter, we’re ready in the ground, in the stands and around the rope. We hope that most people respect the fact that people just want to come and watch a great day of cricket and go home safely. “
The vast majority of tickets for the first four days of the Test have sold out and both captains are expecting lively crowds. “The Hollies Stand there is pretty vocal, but it’s great,” Pat Cummins said. “It’s why playing and winning overseas is hard – because you’ve got hostile crowds who are pretty vocal in which team they’re supporting.”
But Cain is responsible for ensuring that the crowd’s behaviour does not get out of hand – as it did during England’s victory against India last year, when some fans were racially abused. “There’s a lot we’ve done around promoting a safe and welcoming environment here,” he said.
“I was really disappointed we had the issue, but I was really pleased with the response. We were able to pinpoint the two guys that were alleged to have caused the racist abuse, and then working with the police, they were both charged with a racially aggravated public order offence. I think really the best way to stamp some of that stuff out is real consequence.
“You try to make sure that you have facilities that mean everyone feels safe and welcome here: things like prayer rooms, food offerings, alcohol-free areas. Making sure that if you are a group of girls coming to watch, you feel safe and there’s no sexism; if you are a couple of gay guys, you feel safe, there’s no homophobia.
“It has become a lot more complicated now to stage games like this, but I do think that the atmosphere, the environment, the stadium and the day out that fans have is better as a consequence of that.”
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98