Test match crowds in perspective
View(s):ABU DHABI, Oct 24, 2015 (AFP) – Test match cricket is battling to preserve its status as the pinnacle of the sport as many fans abandon the five-day format for the quick-fix attractions of Twenty20 and one-day internationals.
Test cricket is the most adored by many of its players but fails to attract big crowds as ODIs and T20s do - File pic
Here, AFP Sports looks at the state of play around some of the leading Test playing nations.
INDIA
- BCCI officials insist Test cricket is alive and kicking in a country where ODIs and T20 games rule. They point to large crowds that attend Test matches in southern centres like Chennai and Bangalore, the Eden Gardens in eastern Kolkata, or the Kotla in New Delhi.
But centres like Mohali in northern Punjab, where South Africa play the first Test from November 5, or Nagpur, the venue of the third Test where the stadium is located on the outskirts of the city, barely draw a few hundred to the five-day game.
Even Mumbai, once regarded as the nursery of Indian cricket that has produced such batting greats as Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, has lost its taste for Test cricket.
Observers were surprised that the Wankhede stadium was not packed even for Tendulkar’s last Test match in 2013.
“At most centres you get crowds of 10,000 a day for a Test, which is more than what many other nations get for an entire match,” a senior BCCI official told AFP.
“A lot also depends on who the opposition is. Teams like Australia, Pakistan or England will always attract crowds. Even the series against South Africa will be well-attended.”
SRI LANKA
- Most Tests in Sri Lanka, even against India or Pakistan, are played in front of empty stands.
Galle attracted a full house of around 8,000 when England played a Test there in 2012 — but most of them were travelling England supporters. There was hardly a Sri Lankan fan to be seen at the picturesque ground.
Some of the Test matches are free of charge, yet, there is hardly any crowed.
BANGLADESH
- Test cricket is well supported when played at smaller venues like Khulna, Chittagong or Fatullah. But there is hardly any interest for Tests in the capital Dhaka, which however draws full houses for limited overs games.
AUSTRALIA
- Test cricket holds a significant place in the crowded Australian sports culture. While other cricket-playing countries give priority to the popular Twenty20 and one-day format, Australia celebrates one of its biggest sporting days of the calendar at the Boxing Day Test at the cavernous Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The 2013 Ashes Test against England drew 91,112 fans for the opening day, while India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa have regularly attracted first-day festive crowds of 60,000-plus.
The Boxing Day Test is regarded as the jewel in the crown of Australian cricket.
The Sydney Cricket Ground Test over the New Year period is regularly sold out for the first three days, depending on the opponents with daily attendances topping over 40,000 for England and India Test matches.
The Adelaide Oval, which will host cricket’s first day-night Test match against New Zealand next month, has undergone extensive renovations in recent years to also cater for the domestic Australian Football League market and the popular T20 Big Bash and can now accommodate crowds of 50,000-plus.
The infamous “Bodyline” Test against England in 1933 still stands at 50,962 for an Adelaide Oval ground record for Test cricket.
SOUTH AFRICA
- South Africa, the number one Test team in the world, have had reasonable attendances at Test matches in recent seasons, with Newlands in Cape Town and SuperSport Park at Centurion regularly attracting near-capacity crowds on some days.
Other venues, notably Durban and Port Elizabeth, have been less well attended.
Haroon Lorgat, chief executive of Cricket South Africa, said he was satisfied that Test cricket was holding its own in a competitive entertainment.
“Over the last four home summers we have played quality series against Australia, India and the West Indies and this has resulted in combined sales of almost one million tickets,” he said.
“Newlands is our premier Test venue with the annual New Year Test match regarded by players and fans as one of the most iconic sporting events in the world. Our aim is to raise the level of fan appeal at our other Test venues.”
Lorgat said the coming season, with a home series against England, would attract near-capacity crowds, bolstered by an expected large contingent of English supporters.
Tickets for the first three days of the New Year Test at Newlands are sold out. “We are now considering the feasibility of erecting temporary stands to accommodate the demand,” said Lorgat.
WEST INDIES
- Generally speaking, experts believe that the storied Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad has the biggest struggle to seduce fans to the attractions of Test match cricket while Windsor Park in Dominica is relatively thriving.
Trinidad is one of the traditional Test venues going back to 1930.
But it suffers as fans are no longer attracted to the longer game, given the results of the declining West Indies team over the past 20 years.
The opposite is true for Dominica, which hosted its first test in 2011 and where the novelty factor still ensures enthusiasm and a decent turnout.
Trinidad did have at least one sell-out crowd in 2015 when more than 20,000 people watched the final of the Twenty20 Caribbean Premier League.