Disgraceful attendances for test cricket

[Maranello]

Interesting to note that on the last two days of the Karachi Test, attendances were in the low thousands, which is repectable & cosy for a normal ground... for a large stadium though, it still generates a feeling of emptiness.

The high attendances were because:

• The 4th day was a Sunday, so naturally high attendance on the w/e
• Free admission for most ticket classes on Day 4
• Pakistan in a v strong position

[haseebbutt007]

It is a major problem of Pakistani cricket that people donot come to watch test cricket.I think there r plenty of reasons for that . But the main reason for this is that Pakistani team doesnot play much test cricket and the pakistani spctators have not the taste of test cricket they think that watching test cricket is wastage of time and money . We will have to change this concept . The cricket board should reduce the price of tickets for test matches . They should also invite stutents from schools and colleges to watch cricket matches . This will improve their taste of watching test matches . The other main reason for such a low turn out in the stadium is that that the spetators are not given facilities in the ground . It is the duty of PCB to encourage more and more people to come and watch test cricket.

[Zainub]

Originally Posted by 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.

That statment is far, far from the truth - if the cricket fans of this country were really "reluctant" to follow what you (or your boss) call the "boring" version of cricket then test cricket around the world and Pakistan's performance wouldn't be getting any media coverage, not in the press, not on TV, not on Radio, no where, it's only because people have interest that test cricket gets atention from the media, other wise why would they bother reporting about something they knew wouldn't appeal to the masses.

In the India series PCB did everything they can do encourage greater crowd attendences, although enevitable high secutiry arrangements did not help. Apart from that though, speaking as a potential ticket buyers I would say that we haven't been really given a lot of confidence by touring countiries. In recent times Aus and WI refuse to come to Pakistan on account of a security hazards that were blown out of proportion, than SA took a lifetime to confirm their tour, and only just agreed on playing here, then even for the India series we had to prove that the conditions here were safe enough only then did they tour. I can tell you that all this security drama has never at all gone down well with me, and some fans, who might be more impulsive than me, can express there annoyance by not attending test matches.

To make matters worse we play far fewer test matches at home than we should be, particularly in the last decade I can't recall we having played any thing longer than a 3 test series at home (some can verify if they want), to add to that first class 4 day games are never even advertised for properly let alone be shown on television - unless the public are made use to test cricket they are not going to turn up. And to completely turn the puclic off from test cricket ODIs are almost always played before the test series (which is a trait unique to the PCB). I have no doubt what so ever that if in the India series we had played tests before the ODIs we would have had much bigger crowds, even full houses.

The vast majority of cricket fans in Pakistan, though like LOIs more, support Pakistan and follow them in test cricket with just as much zeal and enthusiasm. I blame the poor attendences (which in no way implies that those majority of cricket fans I just talked about don't follow test cricket and are not interested in it, they are just not at this point willing to spend time and money watching it stadiums) directly on to other teams who have either refused to tour us or made a real fuss out of security concerns that never realy existed. THAT, and primarily that among other things, is a major factor contributing to poor attendences in test cricket.

Despite that I'm hopeful, in a positive sense, that in the near future, with the attempts made by the PCB to advertise QT matches, cheaper tickets (tickets really never are too expensive, beleive me) and improve facilities like toilets etc at stadiums, and other steps I can't recall now, we will see an improvement in test cricket attendences.

[Maranello]

Excellent comments on the security issue Zainub, couldn't agree more with you there.

Some of the Aussies in particular have acted like a bunch of lily-livered pansies, even immature schoolgirls would be more grown-up than they have been on security issues! This is quite out of line with the swaggering machismo they like to put on show, the "take no prisoners approach" they seem to epitomise. :-)

Anyway, glad that England are not like that!


PS: In case someone is being a bit slow today, the above is not a generalisation about the moral character of the Australian nation. It is a facetious comment addressed at a tiny minority of Australians, a minority which is by no means representative of their exciting and wonderful country. It is also directed only at particular actions by this minority, not at their general conduct in life which I am in position to comment upon.

So please keep the lawyers leashed!

[Zainub]

Aussies are Aussies, you know, some (and yes, that defination of some that you have provided follows this 'some' too) of them because they live in such a perfect world (have the best cricket team in the world, have one-of-the-best rugby teams in the world, have all the best swimmers in the world (ok, most of them), have the best field hocky team in the world, have a working democracy in their country (though a very wierd head-of-state, whose dumb enough to call Murali a chucker), have Sydney (the best city in the world in some people's opinion), have the best olympics ever, have Warnie, have good peace in their own county, nice cordial relations with neighbours (offically speaking only though)...a lot of nice, and near perfect things...

that's why when they are asked to come to a 3rd WORLD COUNTRY like ours, where things are no way near as near-perfect as they are in their own lands down under, and where a lot of poeple (more than half; unofficially only that is) live below the poverty line, where people often fight, where if on the road one person rips apart another person's car, the third person will along with other people (lots of them) will flock to see them flight and never attempt to do anything but precisely sit back and watch...its natural for them to be curious about how much of a risk they are realistically speaking taking by touring us. The answer of coarse for that question is not confirmed, since 100% secure conditions can only be quaranteed in the heavens above, as the world below, all of it irrespective, is vulnerable to different extents. Australia should have played in Pakistan , no second thoughts on that, and we should not have agreed on playing on a nuetal venue, we should have asked instead for a financial compensation, and a guarantuee that they will tour us later, when they beleive (according to the superficial standards) that we are safe enough for a cricket tour.

What ********** me off most was a county like South Africa, who it self stills suffers from all sorts of problems (do I have to remind PAKISTANI players being ROBBED and ATTACKED in our second last tour there -the one in which Azhar Mahmood made an impression- and STILL deceiding eventually to continue with the tour respecting the reassurances the South African board gave us) and when those people complain of security and say they won't play in so and so city becuase according to Greame Smith one of his friends told him "its so unsafe in Karachi that he never even goes to the movies" and bla bla bla...I really get mad. I mean, what right have they to question secutiry here when security in their own very beautiful SA is far, far from being imaculate. Again I thought PCB shouldn't have provided SA with presidential level security (can you beleive it we even had Border Security forces in the grounds when we played SA {in one of them warm up matches security forces outnumbered the fans by a distance}, NOW THAT IS JUST PLAIN RIDICULOUS, and UNACCEPTABLY STUPID). I hate the way PCB always surrenders infront of the so-called more 'secure' nations, we should threaten every one that refuses to tour us with normal security levels usually assigned for any major sports event or face massive financial fines.

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by Zainub Razvi

though a very wierd head-of-state, whose dumb enough to call Murali a chucker.

Howard is their head of government. Last I checked, HM The Queen was still their Head of State, and she would never even dream of making such senseless statements!
In any case, there are far dumber things one could blame Howard for, putting his boot in it whilst talking about cricket is probably the least of his crimes.

Australia is not that perfect anyway, some of them have a massive chip on their shoulder and big inferiority complex, which may well have sound historical reasons if one studies their origins. In any case, it wasn't Indians or Pakistanis or Sri Lankans who robbed a whole indigenous people of their land and murdered, raped and pillaged the natives to set up their "colony". Enough said.


Agree totally about SA - Jo'burg is far more dangerous and murderous a city than Karachi, I know both places personally, and Karachi, apart from some areas, is pretty decent. Similarly, I would feel ten times safer in Lahore or any other Punjabi city than I would in CT, East London or even Durban. And as for daring to venture into the interior..the Afrikaaner fiefdoms in Pochefstroom and Pietermaritzberg or whatever...then the less said, the better!

[haseebbutt007]

I think there is no security problem in Pakistan .Any Pakistani city is as safer as ny European city . I is the western media which shows the wrong picture of Pakistan . Recently Srilanka played a test match in Karachi and they said that Pakistan is a safe place to play.