Why are England fans the only ones that travel to watch their team?

[Singh767]

Have been thinking about this for a while .

If you look at England's tours to West Indies and Sri Lanka - there were thousands of England fans in the stadium who had flown over for the test series and packed out the ground.

Why do we not see this from India (of course stadiums are full when they come to england people like me don't count aka Indian but born in England), Australia, SA etc? If Australia, NZ, SA, India, Pakistan were playing in say West Indies or Sri Lanka you could probably count on one hand how many fans have flown over. Compared to the thousands (or a very large amount) that England bring over.

When I have saved enough I plan to watch an India test series abroad, however I know I would be the only one lol. I guess we could exclude the Ashes as many ex-pats live/work/have family in both countries etc.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Any excuse to get the hell out of England.

 

[Slifer]

I would imagine their are a plethora of airlines that have direct flights out of England to most other parts of the globe and especially the cricket playing countries. Every single wi island that has a test ground, has a scheduled direct flight from Heathrow or Gatwick: Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad hell even antigua and st kitts. I highly doubt there are any indian, Australian, etc have direct flights to the Caribbean. And y should they?? There probably isnt the demand. I'd imagine though, that there are plenty of Indians who travel to Australia and NZ.

 

[MrPrez]

In SA there just aren't enough people who are that into cricket that they'll travel across the world "just" for a test series.

World cups are different although the Rugby World Cup is much better attended by SAfricans than cricket.

Cricket's a lot less popular here than many might believe; rugby and football are the dominant sports here. Traditionally Rugby was followed by Afrikaans, Cricket by English, Football by black population (at least locally). But I'd argue rugby is much more popular than cricket even in the English community these days.

 

[Noumenon]

Good question.

The answer is a singular lack of life, sun and exchange rate.

 

[silentstriker]

Well, Indian fans don't even fill the Indian grounds for Test matches.....


I mean, why can't I just buy tickets online in advance like the rest of the world? I'd love to go to a Test match in India (I never will because I hate the BCCI), but I can't plan my trip far enough in advance because everything is so backwards.

 

[cnerd123]

I think it's more affordable for those living and working in England to travel to other test playing countries to watch cricket than vice vers.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I think it's more affordable for those living and working in England to travel to other test playing countries to watch cricket than vice vers.

Happily Brexit will soon put an end to this inequity though, when the value of a quid will achieve parity with the rupee and the Australian cent.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

The Barmy Army is well funded? So traveling is easier.

 

[Gob]

Cos they love to witness mediocrity

 

[h_hurricane]

English fans are always fond of telling their grandchildren how great or miserable (whichever way it goes) their team was, 50 years down the line.

 

[Burgey]

Can also jag a Southern Hemisphere tour over the xmas break which probably helps. Plus, as has been said, the incentive to get away especially in winter must be pretty big

 

[Daemon]

Europeans generally love a holiday where they can sit in the sun all day with a beer in hand. They don’t get that at home obviously so they have to look elsewhere. Sri Lanka and the Caribbean are perfect destinations for that.

Asians just don’t do that, Australians, South Africans and West Indians can do it in their backyards.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I'd guess that for Australia and New zealand, and probably the West Indies too, that travelling to other cricketing nations is a big downgrade in living standards and general surroundings. And many of the other countries' supporters maybe can't afford it? England is in that middle ground where more people can afford to travel and also you improve your circumstances by getting away from home.

 

[Tom Flint]

Australians are tight and find it difficult to buy a round in a pub let alone travel abroad to see a different part of the world

 

[NUFAN]

Australians are tight and find it difficult to buy a round in a pub let alone travel abroad to see a different part of the world

I just think Aussies in general cbf spending their entire annual leave overseas at a cricket ground.

 

[Burgey]

Every Tom Flint post which has anything to do with Australians or Australian cricket is invariably awful.

Points for consistency

 

[Gnske]

Australians are tight and find it difficult to buy a round in a pub let alone travel abroad to see a different part of the world

This is so very wrong. Every year young Australians travel to Bali and come back with stories, tattoos and diseases from dirty prostitutes after buying them a drink.

 

[silentstriker]

Why would they be buying prostitutes drinks? You’d think they’d figure out that a drink is unnecessary in that transaction.

 

[jimmy101]

In keeping with the tightly censored, PC nature of CW I should point out that "prostitute" is a slur. The accepted term nowadays is "*** worker".