Who here regularly goes to domestic games?

[Autobahn]

I'm going to try and at visit two counties regularly next season hopefully.

I hear a lot of australian domestic games are poorly attended am i right? What about other countries?

 

[Mister Wright]

I go to as many games to the 'Gabba as I can. It helps being a uni student, however after I finish my degree next year I'll probably have less chances.

 

[swede]

Well I cant where I live but I think its a crucial issue. In the long run domestic crowds really must improve for the game to prosper. You can be pretty sure they are crap everywhere.

For real cricket I think a very rough estimate would be a rounded figure of 1,000 per day in England and Australia and pretty close to zero everywhere else. very sad.

In my opinion they should experiment with the format. the declining over rates are the biggest problem in my opinion. Hard to believe that Lancashire once had to delay the start of a day 1 as mounted police went about pushing back a 30,000+ crowd in order for play to be possible.

 

[Mike Hussey]

I can't go I am stuck up in Darwin, I can't get any where NSW.

 

[Smudge]

Well I cant where I live but I think its a crucial issue. In the long run domestic crowds really must improve for the game to prosper. You can be pretty sure they are crap everywhere.

For real cricket I think a very rough estimate would be a rounded figure of 1,000 per day in England and Australia and pretty close to zero everywhere else. very sad.

In my opinion they should experiment with the format. the declining over rates are the biggest problem in my opinion. Hard to believe that Lancashire once had to delay the start of a day 1 as mounted police went about pushing back a 30,000+ crowd in order for play to be possible.

The simple fact is that there are so many other things for people to do with their time. Marry this with the seven-day working week, and it all starts to add up.

 

[Burpey]

I go to school right across the road from the SCG, so I often go over in the afternoon to watch Pura Cup.

 

[Gideon]

I go when i can, which isn't that often.

Usually to Bankstown Oval. I loved watching the Waugh's play there.

 

[cameeel]

I'm going to try and at visit two counties regularly next season hopefully.

I hear a lot of australian domestic games are poorly attended am i right? What about other countries?

Domestic Crowds in Aus are shocking at the moment

 

[Clarence]

I wish I lived in a city where FC cricket is played.

 

[Hazza]

I'm a huge county cricket fan, but have only seen 1 domestic match (a One Dayer- Essex vs Warwickshire). I can't go much because there never seems to be time at the weekends to do anything during the season, but hopefully I will be able to get membership when I leave school.

 

[Autobahn]

Do the aussies have 20/20 cricket competitions?

That normally gets the crowds (and their money) going.

 

[The Baconator]

I generally go 4 or 5 Warwickshire games a season, usually all Totesport. I might get some sort of season tickety thing next year, and I hope I can find someone else who'll want to see a CC match.

 

[Barney Rubble]

I go to 3 or 4 Somerset games and usually one England game per summer, and hopefully this summer now I'm at Uni in Southampton I might be able to get down to the Rose Bowl for a couple of games. Certainly wouldn't mind seeing KP/Warne/Tremlett/others a couple of times.

 

[Chubb]

I go to Taunton to watch Somerset quite a bit in the summer- went eight times last year, plus the first day of the Lord's test. Although I live in Devon, I support Essex (family ties) so now I'll be able to see some early-season Essex matches being here in Norwich. I am going to get membership of Somerset because a) it'll be cheaper and I'll be able to go more often this summer and b) it means giving them less money- £50 as opposed to the £90-odd I spent last year, and that's very important to me!

 

[swede]

The simple fact is that there are so many other things for people to do with their time. Marry this with the seven-day working week, and it all starts to add up.

But this is just the usual myth. This was the same defeatist excuse used to explain why football crowds were so low in England in the 80´s despite admission being virtually free. Now there is even more choice of things to do and prices have risen 5000% or whatever and still there have been a massive increase in crowds throwing ridicule at the thinking in the 80´s. Why? because some real change was forced through, not least by tragedies.

Yet the same myths are now being used in cricket.

Its a fact that far more people now have far more time and opportunity to attend cricket if they choose to do that. Its also a fact that if just a fraction of every english cricket follower attended a county game once a season crowds would massively increase.

This makes it clear that, for whatever reason, a day at a county game is not appealing to cricket followers. why?

The ECB should study hard why so few people go instead of the apparent indifference with focus only being on silly marketing of music at 20 20 games. Even the invention of 2020 is a good example as it happened almost by accident with little belief that it would be popular. But they finally tried it and should also be open to experimenting with the real game.


Lots of things could be tried out. perhaps back to 3-day games as has been suggested or go the opposite way, as I would like to see tried, with a county game being 5 days of 70-80 overs a day played much faster. Historically some FC cricket has been played with almost as many runs made per hour as is made per hour now in 2020 simply because the over rate was so much higher.
It could be possible to merge the the excitement of 2020 with the quality of real cricket if a "day" was 3 hours of 24 overs per hour.

 

[open365]

^er...no.just no.

i don't care what the standard is like,i'd watch an u11s match if there was nothing else on.

You talk about not having enough time as being a myth yet give another false idea that cricket is not appealing.

How would anyone know if it was good if no one watches it?

The standard of county cricket is not bad,thats just an excuse to mask the real reasons.

I feel oblidged to go and watch more 4 day matches but i never do.

why?

i'm 14,can't travel to old trafford by myself.my dad gets home from work at 7 and i'm acctualy playing cricket most days so i can't go.

 

[Autobahn]

The reason many people can't go to first class matches is because they are played when people are at work, football games often start later and can be played under floodlights in the dark.

I wouldn't mind a study though into the validity of playing FC games (or at least a part of them) under floodlights.

 

[TT Boy]

I go to the Oval quite a bit, pretty cheap to get in for a 4 day game and if the weather is good pretty nice way to spend a day, especially if Alistair Brown is in.

 

[Neil Pickup]

People watch 20/20 because the product meets the demand.

Even I, a hardened cricket geek, find Championship cricket dull. The one CC game I've been to only sustained my interest via a) Clarkewatch and b) taking the michael out of Jimmy Ormond.

I genuinely would rather watch U11s than it - to get full value from a game you have to see, or follow closely, the whole thing, and four days of a CC game just doesn't hold peoples attention like a T20 does. You wouldn't pay to read a quarter of a book...

 

[Smudge]

But this is just the usual myth. This was the same defeatist excuse used to explain why football crowds were so low in England in the 80´s despite admission being virtually free. Now there is even more choice of things to do and prices have risen 5000% or whatever and still there have been a massive increase in crowds throwing ridicule at the thinking in the 80´s. Why? because some real change was forced through, not least by tragedies.

Yet the same myths are now being used in cricket.

Its a fact that far more people now have far more time and opportunity to attend cricket if they choose to do that. Its also a fact that if just a fraction of every english cricket follower attended a county game once a season crowds would massively increase.

This makes it clear that, for whatever reason, a day at a county game is not appealing to cricket followers. why?

The ECB should study hard why so few people go instead of the apparent indifference with focus only being on silly marketing of music at 20 20 games. Even the invention of 2020 is a good example as it happened almost by accident with little belief that it would be popular. But they finally tried it and should also be open to experimenting with the real game.


Lots of things could be tried out. perhaps back to 3-day games as has been suggested or go the opposite way, as I would like to see tried, with a county game being 5 days of 70-80 overs a day played much faster. Historically some FC cricket has been played with almost as many runs made per hour as is made per hour now in 2020 simply because the over rate was so much higher.
It could be possible to merge the the excitement of 2020 with the quality of real cricket if a "day" was 3 hours of 24 overs per hour.

Defeatist attitude? I know the only reason I ever get along to game is because it's my job. People DO have less time to get out to lower-grade matches. What's the point of shortening the first-class matches when it's theoretically the breeding ground for future test players?