Chris Rogers` Ashes ticket scheme shuts down: Reports

London: A company in which Australia opener Chris Rogers is a partner has been banned from selling tickets for next month`s Ashes Test at Lord`s at up to £2,910 apiece (AUS $5,914), the ESPNcricinfo website and the Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.

As a former captain of Middlesex, who play at Lord`s, Rogers received 10 tickets for the showpiece match, with officials believing they would go to family and friends.

However, Rogers and business partner Tom Scollay, a former Middlesex colleague, then tried to re-sell the tickets as part of a hospitality package offered by their company, Inside Edge Experience.

Prices started at £1,756, while the most expensive, which included hotel accommodation in London, cost £2,910.

However, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the owners of Lord`s, are opposed to the re-sale of tickets and have a limited number of approved hospitality package operators, a list that doesn`t include Inside Edge Experience.

"We are vehemently opposed to the secondary ticket market," a MCC spokesman told ESPNcricinfo.

"In this case, we understand that no tickets have changed hands and we were assured that it was simply a case of naivety and over-enthusiasm."

Meanwhile Middlesex chief executive Vinny Codrington said Rogers and his business partner had been involved in a "misunderstanding".

"There has been a bit of a misunderstanding, which led to tickets going on sale when they should not have," Codrington told the Daily Telegraph.

"We do not condone our tickets being sold on corporate websites. They have to be fully authorised.

"In this case, too much enthusiasm and naivety has caused this difficulty. We will not be releasing the tickets."

Meanwhile, a Cricket Australia spokeswoman said Rogers had acted in "good faith" and would not be disciplined.

"We are satisfied all concerned set out with good intentions but there was a bit of a misunderstanding in the way they went about getting hold of the tickets," the spokeswoman told the Telegraph.

"We are confident that Chris acted in good faith. He was not trying to circumvent the rules or pull the wool over anyone`s eyes."

Australia`s opening tour match is a four-day fixture against Kent in Canterbury starting on Thursday.

The first of a five Test Ashes series starts in Cardiff on July 8, with the second Test at Lord`s scheduled to run from July 16-20.