Disgraceful attendances for test cricket

[Shaka]

This has been an issue for a couple of years now. Test matches are the worst supported in Pakistan of all nations, regularly playing to empty stadiums, especially in the major cities like Karachi and Lahore. ODI matches in contrast are sold out. I hear plenty of excuses but none are really valid as India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh all draw great crowds to their games.

The PCB doesn't seem too keen on addressing this issue for some reason, but unless there is pro-active approach it's Pakistani cricket that is going to suffer. The atmosphere is dead and players don't learn to play under the pressure a crowd creates. Not to mention the bad impression it creates world wide.

[Maranello]

What could a solution be, in the short term, and in the medium to longer term?

Cost is not the main factor since many of the General Stand tickets are quite cheap...and offering further discounts on its own is not the answer...but what is? Would welcome everyone's thoughts...

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by Maranello

What could a solution be, in the short term, and in the medium to longer term?

{a} start winning lots..

{b} continue winning lots..

:-)

Sorry if that seems a bit trite.. but there's nothing that quite grabs the attention so much as success... and if the national side were actually expected to turn up and WIN (incl. against top opposition)..... al sorts of people who don't really give a fig about cricket would want to "be there" :-)

[Maranello]

Good suggestion Rachael...though a trifle unrealistic for Pakistan :-)

Winning helps, that's definitely true...but only to an extent in Pakistan's case. ODIs are followed wildly, and there is wide-spread support for them, not just in full stadium attendances, but also in the whole city or country coming to a standstill. Pakistan's chances of winning ODIs are not that much higher than winning Tests -in fact, we lost the last few home ODI series narrowly, against SA, India and now the Paktel cup (whilst winning the away ones). And even if we lose the next 3 home series, people will still turn up in record numbers for the 4th one...

So the specific question that remains is... what could be done to increase interest in Test cricket specifically? Unlike England, interest in cricket per se or in the national team is not a problem - attendances at Test grounds are.

Another symptom of the problem is that almost all club cricket in Pakistan is limited overs, mostly 30 or 40 overs per innings, often under floodlights etc. Hence, even experienced cricket followers call Test cricket boring... the same people who would travel hundreds of miles to support their local team in limited overs cricket.

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by Rachael

all sorts of people who don't really give a fig about cricket would want to "be there" :-)

Everyone in Pakistan gives a fig about cricket... :-) they only cannot be bothered to be interested in home Tests...which is a real shame

[The Great DonTalon]

Rachel when I first started seriously following cricket around 1984-85 these games in pakistan used to be BIG sellouts especially the IND vs PAK games. Nowadays the stands are almost always empty. This is quite frankly because pakistan does not have new stars and hero figures like they used too...

Back then they had the likes of Javed Miandad, Mudassar Nassar, Imran , Wasim, Zaheer Abbas , majid aand moshin khan ...nowadays they have no such stars and quite frankly they dont win test matches and the fans world over like to see their teams win a game or two.

success for pakistan will get fans in the stands.

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by Maranello

Another symptom of the problem is that almost all club cricket in Pakistan is limited overs, mostly 30 or 40 overs per innings, often under floodlights etc. Hence, even experienced cricket followers call Test cricket boring... the same people who would travel hundreds of miles to support their local team in limited overs cricket.

This ties in with a post of yours here... and especially the following bits:

Originally Posted by Maranello

the first-class cricket set-up in Pakistan is an organisational mess. No other country has organisations, public institutions and banks etc playing in the main domestic set-up. I mean, who really cares whether Pakistan International Airlines beat Pakistan Customs or not? or whether one bank wins over another? But this is the main domestic set-up - the regional based tournament is interlayed with this, so all players play for a regional team (eg Karachi W) in the first tourny for the 3 months, and then for a departmentalteam in the next tourny for the other 3-4 months.

This first-class set-up clearly does not encourage crowd participation, and does not get any at all. It also does not encourage teaming when everyone plays for two different teams, with two different sets of team-mates, each season.

Why is this set-up there? Again, refer to point {a}. People do not watch domestic cricket, and no one buys its TV rights..so there just isn't enough money in domestic cricket for it to sustain itself and the players on a professional basis.
{...} Pakistan's domestic set-up is definitely the weakest in all the countries {...} Because of {d}, there is a vibrant, informal and ad-hoc club cricket network in Pakistan. It is not a system, but a loose, un-coordinated network. There are no professional coaches anywhere, no official money...but club cricket at all levels, played everywhere, in grounds an stadia, but also on the streets, in fields, in backyards, in garages, and in people's houses.

Without a grassroots attunement to the longer form of the game (itself difficult without the resources to professionalise the 1st class game) it's hardly surprising that the more common ODI game find a more enthusiastic audience!

Are we making mountains out of molehills though: we have huge attendences at the Tests in this country and all it does is encourage the ECB to rise ticket prices to such extortionate levels that mere cricket lovers are priced out... encourage the expansion of ridiculous hospitality suites so that corporate guests (freequently having no interest in the sport) can be wined and dined in comfort (at their corporation's expense).. and turn the whole thing into something more like a rock-concert.. complete with overpriced food and drink, "music", a blaring PA system and lunch-break "entertainment".

[Shaka]

Pakistan's test record isn't all that bad recently, I think the malaise goes further. In England test matches are seen as a day out where fans will enjoy a drink and generally have a good time in a cricket setting, not much different in the Windies or Australia I expect. For me the PCB need to be looking at the genral decline in interest in test matches and be actively looking to address the situation.

Lower prices is one method, bussing in schools for free is another. Some form of entertainment, with local singers performing during the lunch hour...I don't know...these are just suggestions off the top of my head. While it may seem tacky in one sense and I take Rachael's point about turning it into a circus....believe me, there's nothing more soul destroying than watching international matches being played in front of empty stadiums. What I would like to see is someone from the ECB at least acknowledge there is a problem. At the moment they seem happy to be making lots of money through tv deals and sponsorships to show too much concern.

[Maranello]

PCB does bus in school kids for free quite regularly, esp. on 4th and 5th days.. maybe they could do more, I agree.

A good solution would be to move matches away from Lahore & Karachi... the other cities generally have a better attendance record, eg the likes of Sialkot, Gujranwala, Peshawar, etc. There are a lot of good quality grounds around.

Finally... the major stadia in Pakistan are quite big... eg, I remember when we watched NZL vs Pak last season, the test match at Hamilton was played at a ground and not a stadium... people just brought their picnics and sat on the grass with their families... the attendance was probably in the hundreds or maybe 1 - 2 thousands, but the small, intimate setting made it look much busier and better supported. (and I have seen the same in other NZL and some smaller SA venues too).
One obvious problem with Pak is that 1,000 people in National Stadium, Karachi do not really amount to much...and leave most of the stadium empty....stacks upon stacks of empty seats are prob. very discouraging to the players...

[Mike Small]

Personally I think it just bottles down to a surprising reluctance of the locals to following the "boring" -as my boss calls it- versions of cricket. Surprising really, but that's what I have come to know.

From a marketing point of view, the PCB could introduce special offers for people visiting test matches - they could for instance say that every one who comes to see test matches would be eligible in some special prize draw. Looking at advertising market here - a lot of products at this time of the year seemed to be sold with something free coming in along - so perhaps the PCB can learn something from that.

The thing is, the PCB a corporation, like any other buisness company it must have got marketing and finance experts who know how to deal with such issues - this isn't from a commerce perspective a new problem – you would expect a firm dealing with a viable thing like cricket, especially in this part of the world, to know how to deal with such issues. I'm surprised it’s turning into such a big issue for the board.