The England and Wales Cricket Board has called for tough new laws against ticket touts, after private investigators employed by the board tracked down more than 1,900 "black market" tickets for the ICC World Twenty20 made available through internet sites such as eBay.
It is understood that the government, which up until now has favoured a voluntary solution to the problem of ordinary fans being priced out of major sporting events, is increasingly considering legislation as an option.
In its submission to a government consultation that closed this week, the ECB said it was forced to take drastic action to deal with the thousands of tickets bought up by both organized touting operations and so-called "bedroom touts".
It is understood that more than 1,900 tickets have been investigated, traced through 400 different sellers on eBay. Although the sellers are often anonymous, the ECB said its investigators had been able to track them down to their home address and cancel their tickets.
In a strongly worded letter, they are offered the option of a refund if they return the ticket promptly. But they are told that anyone attempting to use them will be ejected. If the ticket holder is subsequently found to have sold their tickets, the ECB said it would take them to court.
In its submission, which has been seen by the Guardian, the ECB said it had proved that websites were unwilling to engage in finding a voluntary solution and called on the culture secretary Andy Burnham to legislate.
Last year, Burnham said that reselling tickets at inflated prices adds nothing to the cultural life of the country but rather "leeches off it and denies access to those least able to afford tickets". His belief that legislation may be necessary is understood to have hardened since.
The ECB's preferred option is for a new law, similar to one proposed by the Tories earlier this year, that would automatically give major events the same protection afforded to football matches and the 2012 Olympics.
The discussions around major sporting events have also taken on an added urgency in light of the Rugby Football Union's decision to bid for the 2015 World Cup. The resale of football tickets is banned under existing legislation.
The ECB and other sporting bodies, including the RFU and the All England Club, believe their argument that legislation is necessary for major events is gathering pace.
When it launched the consultation in February, the government called on sporting bodies, websites such as eBay and Seatwave, and the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers to work on a self-regulated way of stopping tickets for a defined list of "crown jewels" events being offered for resale.
It also called on the governing bodies to ensure tickets were made available to a wide range of consumers at a variety of price levels and to explore ways of preventing touts buying up thousands of tickets within minutes of them going on sale, as well as developing their own exchange mechanisms.
The ECB will say it has done all it can, including staggering on-sale dates, releasing tickets at a variety of price points and offering refunds within a certain window. It will also claim that the World Twenty20 tournament director Steve Elworthy has written to the major online resellers but they have refused to work with the ECB.
An eBay spokeswoman robustly defended its business model, saying that the ECB's own official exchange mechanism offered only "very limited resale". "In short, fans who find they can no longer attend the event for whatever reason would be unable to recoup their money if they had spare or unwanted tickets," she said. "Even if eBay were to agree to such voluntary measures, these tickets would simply be sold elsewhere – either on the internet or on the streets, where there is less consumer protection for fans if there is a problem with the transaction."
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