Why no crowds at Christchurch at Test?

[Craig]

Make the All-Blacks do some training next door and you will get numbers (and make it so that if you turn up for the training session you have to watch the Test or be shot on site).

Also wouldn't pitches/run rates be a factor as well? I mean if it is a good batting wicket and a teams are score 3.5-4 runs an over people will more interested as well so they would see it is entertaining.

TBF though New Zealand isn't the only place who get poor corowds. Pakistan is another (except when you go into the smaller cities but that isn't always the case) but at a one dayer the crowd is packed to the rafters usually.

 

[Tim]

Yes India decided to give NZ a miss, and instead decided to tour South Africa where if anything they will encounter the same kind of bounce that they would have here. Why aren't they blaming the pitches over there for their poor collapses in the ODI series.
I think they were more bitter over the fact that they were getting done by New Zealand.

 

[Dasa]

Yes India decided to give NZ a miss, and instead decided to tour South Africa where if anything they will encounter the same kind of bounce that they would have here. Why aren't they blaming the pitches over there for their poor collapses in the ODI series.
I think they were more bitter over the fact that they were getting done by New Zealand.

What are you on about?

I remember that entire series clearly, and I remember that the Indians didn't whinge about the pitches when they clearly could have. They never made any attempt to blame the pitch for their poor performances. In fact, the criticism from the Indian press was aimed at the Indian batsmen for playing poorly and with poor technique - same as is happening now with the series in South Africa. Actually, the player with the most to say about the tracks prepared for that series was Stephen Fleming.

 

[Tim]

errr I dunno what shell you were hiding under but the following season New Zealand travelled to India where there was talk of revenge on New Zealand, particularly by Harbhajan Singh who wanted exaggerated turners to offset the green tops they discovered in New Zealand.

India were extremely bitter with New Zealand for the pitches they batted on before the World Cup. But hey, they made the World Cup final so it can;t have been that bad...

 

[Dasa]

errr I dunno what shell you were hiding under but the following season New Zealand travelled to India where there was talk of revenge on New Zealand, particularly by Harbhajan Singh who wanted exaggerated turners to offset the green tops they discovered in New Zealand.

India were extremely bitter with New Zealand for the pitches they batted on before the World Cup. But hey, they made the World Cup final so it can;t have been that bad...

What you've said here is totally different to what you said initially. You claimed the Indian team blamed their poor performance on the pitches - that is something they did not do. Furthermore, I still haven't seen any articles that show the Indian team to have been "extremely bitter" about the pitches in NZ. If anything, the Indian press, coach, media commentators etc were more concerned with the lack of any technique or heart shown by most of the Indian batsmen during that tour. There was little talk of the pitches because most people realised that both teams had to bat on them.

Any talk after the series about getting revenge is something else entirely, and irrelevant to your original point.

 

[Beleg]

test matches in pakistan suffer from being played in Lahore, Multan, Karachi and Rawalpindi. The location of Multan's stadium is also pretty unfortunate, and the less said about the 'facilities' the better. No wonder people don't flock to the ground to watch the match. I went once and I am never going again.

Personally, NZ is one place where I'd love to go to the ground to watch a cricket match. the recent test match will be remembered (at least by me) for being a competitive, spiritive affair with some good bowling and an awesome knock by Sangakara.

 

[Tomm NCCC]

I doubt New Zealand exists to be honest.

 

[Dick Rockett]

There are a whole bunch of reasons really:

* Cricket may be our number 2 sport, but it's still so far behind rugby it's not funny.
* Of those who do like cricket, a great deal of them will tell you that they can't stand tests. "Too slow/boring/like watching paint dry", etc.
* The Sri Lankans, while an excellent team, aren't a drawcard, even when they haven't been here three seasons in a row.
* There's been basically no marketing - the only advertising I've seen for cricket this season has been for - you guessed it - Twenty20.
* Cricket needs free TV exposure to remain in the consciousness. It's been on pay TV for a long time now and crowds have certainly dwindled since then.
* No-one cares about the first class comps anymore, much less knows about exciting new players coming through.
* It was bloody cold.
* General cynicism about the kiwi team's ability to win. Considering we're such a small country we're unbelievably intorelant of losers.

However, take heart! Because if we get decent weather there will definitely be an excellent crowd at the Basin this weekend

 

[SpaceMonkey]

However, take heart! Because if we get decent weather there will definitely be an excellent crowd at the Basin this weekend

Thank god for global warming huh?

 

[armchairumpire]

IMO NZC does not seem to do enough to promote the Blackcaps. You could get a lot of mileage out of the fact that they are the best looking cricket team in international cricket. During World Series Cricket all those years ago Kerry Packer knew how to market his players, and by and large apart from David Hookes they were an ugly bunch.

I did note that perhaps it wasn't that warm in Christchurch when I saw people wrapped up in woolly blankets - again, a bit different from the Gabba.

 

[Dick Rockett]

Thank god for global warming huh?

I dunno... GW seems to make Wellington wetter and colder, tbh.

You could get a lot of mileage out of the fact that they are the best looking cricket team in international cricket.

With Scotty Styris out of the team you could be right. That boy's a decent bat, but he's got a head like a half-sucked panadol.

 

[Jono]

Yes India decided to give NZ a miss, and instead decided to tour South Africa where if anything they will encounter the same kind of bounce that they would have here. Why aren't they blaming the pitches over there for their poor collapses in the ODI series.
I think they were more bitter over the fact that they were getting done by New Zealand.

Its clear to me you have a chip on your shoulder mate, because over a number of years now you've become so defensive over NZ cricket you'll attack any sub-continent team (whether it be their techniques, flat tracks, whinging over wickets etc.) whenever you can.

I remember the last ODI in that whole tour, and the president of your board was the one that came out during the presentation ceremony and said something along the lines of "its been unfortunate that the wickets have been like this the whole tour, but it cannot be denied that NZ has been the better team this series and deserves this trophy."

 

[Dick Rockett]

It makes sense for him to have said that - it doesn't do the game any good at all to have so many low scoring games, especially with a batting lineup like India's on display.

Those pitches were mainly a product of a combination of atrocious weather, and some poorly timed experimentation. Although that didn't stop a local journalist (Jonathan Millmow) from claiming the other day that the pitches for that tour were "doctored".

Bollocks, I say.

 

[LA ICE-E]

Is she available ? I will have her any day ....

ewww

 

[_Ed_]

With Scotty Styris out of the team you could be right. That boy's a decent bat, but he's got a head like a half-sucked panadol.

There's also the general impression in NZ (that the media does nothing to help) that the team is completely useless and much more likely to lose than win, and that when it does win it is more likely to be the opponent playing even more poorly than NZ *gasp* playing well. It really annoys me.

ODIs get good crowds though, I guess because people think we have a better chance of getting a "fluke" win (in fact we get such wins about 50% of the time), and of course the fact that the game only lasts six hours.

 

[LA ICE-E]

* Cricket needs free TV exposure to remain in the consciousness. It's been on pay TV for a long time now and crowds have certainly dwindled since then.

they dont show cricket on free tv? i thought they did,,,,ot is it pay per view or somthing over there

 

[_Ed_]

Sky Sport have had cricket here since 2000.

 

[Dick Rockett]

they dont show cricket on free tv? i thought they did,,,,ot is it pay per view or somthing over there

Occasionally, Prime TV shows cricket live. The problem is that they're a new-ish channel and people don't watch them, and one or two games per series really doesn't inspire a casual fan to take a deeper interest.

 

[JASON]

Another factor in the poor crowds -albeit small is that - there are approximately 15,000 Sri Lankans living in NZ - but most live in Auckland and Wellington.

If the first Test was in either of these cities most at least 500 -1000 Sri lankans may have come to either venue . There are very few Sri Lankans in the South Island (or the mainland ).

I expect a significantly better Sti Lankan turn out at Wellington possibly accompanied by a couple of Sri Lankan "papara" Bands.

 

[Blaze]

Stop playing Test cricket at rugby stadiums. Watching Test cricket (on TV) held at JADE Stadium or Eden Park is depressing. They are not cricket ovals. The crowd is scattered all over the place, there is no atmosphere and it looks ugly on TV.

Auckland cricket really have to start being proactive and get themselves a proper cricket oval with a crowd capacity of around 10,000 to hold Test matches otherwise Wellington and Hamilton are our only two options.

Also, people don't really get into cricket over here until after the christmas break. The crowds for the Sri Lankan ODI's were all poor, but the Chappel Hadlee crowds were brilliant.

Agree with someone earlier here when they said that there is 0 marketing for upcoming cricket in NZ.