Test match attendances

[Langeveldt]

Its striking how few people are turning up to watch test cricket around the world... Im watching the WI v BAN test match, and although Bangladesh hardly draw in the punters, hardly anyone is watching at all.. amazing..

The same can be said of South Africa... For the worlds second team, they have had to shelve grounds like Goodyear park, Bloemfontein, because nobody will turn up.. And then it amazes me to see an empty Wanderers every year...

It makes Englands situation look more rosy.. They seem to draw in the crowds for the longer version of the game consistantly... Despite it costing an absolute arm and a leg to go and watch....

Any comments.... How can this be sorted out?

 

[NikhilN]

You are right it is a problem...best way I think it could be solved is make into 3 or 4 days so players play faster which will be better to watch

 

[superkingdave]

It only really costs an arm and a leg at Lords - Ive got tickets for Old Trafford for about 15 quid IIRC, i think thats pretty good value, i think the more pricey ones were about 20 quid. I think it reflects the state of the game in England- People are actually quite excited about the team, the same cant be said of WI.

 

[Neil Pickup]

You are right it is a problem...best way I think it could be solved is make into 3 or 4 days so players play faster which will be better to watch

Worst plan ever.

 

[Neil Pickup]

It only really costs an arm and a leg at Lords - Ive got tickets for Old Trafford for about 15 quid IIRC, i think thats pretty good value, i think the more pricey ones were about 20 quid. I think it reflects the state of the game in England- People are actually quite excited about the team, the same cant be said of WI.

Only costs a tenner on the last day at Lord's

 

[chicane]

Mostly Test match tickets in India cost only about ten rupees. And also because some places International cricket is not played very often. So attendance in India is decent.

 

[NikhilN]

Worst plan ever.

Keep it for 5 days but not make it unlimited overs for a side...maybe 100 each side

 

[Rich2001]

Only costs a tenner on the last day at Lord's

That's at the most, alot of the time it comes up it's free for the last day (maybe the match situation refects the price a bit)

I think you also need to take into account the size of the grounds to, a lot of the time on TV you think there is nobody there and the guy turns around and says that there is about 10,000 in the ground - I remember watching a days plays at the MCG Aus v Eng and I thought it was empty and the next line was, what a great turnout today must be at least 40,000 in the ground!

I think the WI situation is purley the team they are playing and a bit to do with the location... remember the grounds were jam packed in the Windies for the whole of the England series, and verses Bangladesh not only is it "Bangladesh" but they are also playing at a Out ground.

Also Tests are generally played mid-week with it overlapping the weekend, so alot of the people who would/want to go are at work/school/other whereas at the weekend the ground is jam packed.

And finally, remember the locations the WI for example has a high church going community so the ground will be dead during the morning but by lunch everyone suddenly turns up.

I lied now it's finally - The good old weather! - If you wake up overcast or it's been raining all night and you look at a weather forcast and it says rain, rain, rain and more rain you are unlikly to waste your time going... but as we all know weather forcasts are pretty useless and the whole day will be a heatwave .

 

[a massive zebra]

Keep it for 5 days but not make it unlimited overs for a side...maybe 100 each side

NO. NO. NO.

Test cricket is about scoring more runs than the opposition, one-day cricket is about scoring more quickly; 100 overs a side would simply be an extended version of one-day cricket.

If your plan comes into practice we will have seen the death of true Test cricket and it will almost certainly never return.

 

[NikhilN]

NO. NO. NO.

Test cricket is about scoring more runs than the opposition, one-day cricket is about scoring more quickly; 100 overs a side would simply be an extended version of one-day cricket.

If your plan comes into practice we will have seen the death of true Test cricket and it will almost certainly never return.

Then what do you think we should do so more people come to watch test cricket?

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I think the WI situation is purley the team they are playing and a bit to do with the location... remember the grounds were jam packed in the Windies for the whole of the England series, and verses Bangladesh not only is it "Bangladesh" but they are also playing at a Out ground.

That was mainly cos 70% of the crowd were made up of english tourists.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Keep it for 5 days but not make it unlimited overs for a side...maybe 100 each side

Few games finish as a draw nowadays so why bother?
I know england over the last 5 years have made concerted efforts to get children into test match grounds, which i believe is definatly paying off now.

 

[NikhilN]

Ya but we are not talking about england...we wont to get people to come to test matches all over the world...maybe if it is a 100 overs a side people might want to come watch it because players will play faster...

Maybe they could make it only 1 inning and shorten the days to 2-3

 

[a massive zebra]

Maybe they could make it only 1 inning and shorten the days to 2-3

What would you call your new invention then because its certainly not Test cricket.

 

[anzac]

changes to the game are not the answer, but marketing, and the quality of the competition is..............

I think they have to look at how they are marketing the game - it's all very well if you are familiar with the game, but perhaps they need to do something different..........

attendances should not be a problem in those countries where cricket is the main sport - i.e. sub continent, but even in AUS the crowds have been dropping off a bit................

similarly the quality of the contest has a lot to do with it - even if the national team is successful..........die hard supporters will turn up to watch, but many will stay away...........

currently I'd rather see an 8 team top flight, with longer tours & no 2 Test series, and LESS cricket being played as a result..................IMO the over abundance of ODI series has spoilt the public & given the viewers a false sence of what they expect from the game as far as instant results and entertainment goes...........

getting the younger generations to the longer game is one of the keys to building a long term support base, as well as having 'heroes' in the team the likes of Lara, Tendulkar, Murali etc......

 

[MoxPearl]

they were saying how much the test mach was on tv at lords.. i could not belive it.. it costs more for 1 day there than it does for a ODI here in nz..

I went to the test match this year at the basin (NZ vs SA) and every day had rather heafty crowds.. with about 3 of the days it was pretty much full.. granted it is a smaller venue but still.. i could not BELIVE how much ticket prices were on the tv :o

Im pretty sure 1 day at lords was the same price as the whole testmatch in wellington

 

[Loony BoB]

Then what do you think we should do so more people come to watch test cricket?

Better tests. England vs. NZ - sold out for at least one of the days, I believe.

You can't judge by Windies vs. Bangladesh - Bangladesh isn't full of people who will travel around the world to see their team play, and the Windies crowds don't turn out when their team isn't either batting or doing well while fielding. Most of the Bangladesh-Windies match has been without the Windies batting and without the Windies bowling Bangladesh cheaply. You might have noticed that the crowd increased as the Windies batsmen came in.

The main reason I don't go to tests is because I can't afford to take the days off work. You can't market around that unless you intend on playing a test match over three different weekends.

 

[V Reddy]

Mostly Test match tickets in India cost only about ten rupees. And also because some places International cricket is not played very often. So attendance in India is decent.

Is it that cheap? . I have never been to a test match but prices for onedayers in Hyderabad in the last odi were 350 , 800, 2500 and most of them were sold in black with double or triple that rate. Isn't Hyderabad supposed to be the cheapest city in India. Guess that doesn't apply to Cricket ticket prices then . Is that Rs 10 for one day or for 5 days? It's just 2/10 th of the price of a movie ticket ( which in Hyd is around 50 but in Mumbai around 120 and so 9/100 of a movie ticket price there) . People must be really disinterested to not watch Cricket with tickets being that cheap.

 

[NikhilN]

Better tests. England vs. NZ - sold out for at least one of the days, I believe.

You can't judge by Windies vs. Bangladesh - Bangladesh isn't full of people who will travel around the world to see their team play, and the Windies crowds don't turn out when their team isn't either batting or doing well while fielding. Most of the Bangladesh-Windies match has been without the Windies batting and without the Windies bowling Bangladesh cheaply. You might have noticed that the crowd increased as the Windies batsmen came in.

The main reason I don't go to tests is because I can't afford to take the days off work. You can't market around that unless you intend on playing a test match over three different weekends.

Exactly...Test Cricket attendance in England is huge but it is not that great in India,Pakistan, or Sri Lanka...didnt you see the crowd in the first test between India and Pakistan when sehwag got 300? There were like 2 people in the stadium...97% of the seats were empty but in the ODIs the stadiums were full...We want to do something to get people in these countrys to come watch test matches...we are not worried about england

 

[Dasa]

attendances should not be a problem in those countries where cricket is the main sport - i.e. sub continent, but even in AUS the crowds have been dropping off a bit................

Not really, judging by the India tour. Crowds were quite good for all 4 tests.