The temporary stands at Old Trafford and Bristol will undergo further safety checks before their England matches this week in light of the incident at Durham that left a female supporter with a broken leg after falling 20 feet through a hole in the floor of the North-East terrace.
Durham county council announced on Monday that, like the club, it will investigate the cause of the stand’s partial collapse during England’s one-off Twenty20 international against West Indies on Saturday night. Three spectators sustained injuries and the surrounding seats in a 13,000 crowd were evacuated by stewards and police mid-game.
Lancashire, who host Tuesday’s first one-day international between England and West Indies, and Gloucestershire, scene of the third match of the series on Sunday, use temporary stands to increase capacity. Though the two counties remain confident in the existing checks and procedures for their respective structures, there will naturally be additional caution.
A statement from Lancashire, where Eoin Morgan’s side will play the first of a five‑match series in front of a near sellout 15,000 crowd, stressed the temporary Foster’s Party Stand at Old Trafford is “supplied by a different organisation to the one at Durham” and that its usage is “underpinned by a detailed and comprehensive inspection process”.
The statement added: “Before all games that it is used for, the supplier carries out a detailed inspection followed by our own in-house review and the process is completed by an independent third-party structural inspection.”
Gloucestershire have also confirmed the temporary seating at their ground, construction for which has begun in the past two days, differs to that at Durham and while their contractor has been used for the past 20 years, Saturday’s incident will see further checks carried out.
Trent Bridge, which hosts the second ODI on Thursday, and The Oval, where the fourth match takes place on 27 September, do not use temporary stands for international matches, while Hampshire, venue of the series finale two days later, have already opted not to expand their capacity beyond pre-existing permanent structures at the Ageas Bowl.
Durham, who acquired the North-East terrace in 2013 after it was used for the beach volleyball at Horse Guards Parade during the previous summer’s Olympics, are awaiting an incident report from the club’s safety officer, which will be shared with the England and Wales Cricket Board and the health and safety executive.
Durham county council released a statement on Monday afternoon saying it too would be looking for answers as to why, a week after safety checks were carried out during Durham’s home fixture with Kent, the hole in the floor of the temporary seating area suddenly appeared.
Stephen Reed, the council’s planning development officer, said: “A pre-event operational check, which looked at security, stewarding and the availability of emergency services, was carried out in the run-up to this fixture. We can confirm we will be investigating, along with other relevant agencies, to understand the cause of the incident and any ramifications for future events.”
Durham have said they will make no further comment until investigations are complete, however the club confirmed on Monday that its County Championship fixture against Sussex, starting on Tuesday, will go ahead at the Riverside without access to the stand.
While the embattled county was stripped of Test venue status as one of the penalties tied to their £3.8m financial rescue package by the ECB last October, the Riverside is due to hold an ODI against Australia next summer as well as matches in the 2019 World Cup.
