Australia killing test cricket with their flat pitches.

[The Outsider]

^ And comparing audiences of a country which has no poverty to speak of to one where 60-70% of the population lives on less than $2/day does make sense?

[Ram]

^ And comparing audiences of a country which has no poverty to speak of to one where 60-70% of the population lives on less than $2/day does make sense?

Of course ticket affordability is an issue in India, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping us from flocking to ODIs and IPL matches. The crowd attendance of these matches shows that there’s no dearth of people who can afford to buy tickets for cricket games. People, by and large, with the exception of a few select centers, just to choose to stay away from test matches.

[The Outsider]

^ People stay away from test matches only in certain cities. The metros invariably see full houses in stadiums much larger than any other place in the world, on average.

[Sachin=GOD]

^and it does'nt help either, when knowing that crowds generally come in large numbers in metros, the BCCI gives matches to small cities and that also against teams like Aus. IMO this rotation policy (regarding grounds) of the BCCI is absolutely horrible and should be done away with immediately.

[Ram]

^ People stay away from test matches only in certain cities. The metros invariably see full houses in stadiums much larger than any other place in the world' date=' on average.[/quote'] First of all, I don’t agree with your assertion that the ‘metros attract full houses for test matches’, they don’t. They get decent crowds on working days and near to capacity crowds on weekends and it doesn’t even apply to all the metros. I don’t think a centre like Hyderabad attracts ‘full houses’ for test matches and I have seen test matches in Delhi played in front of very sparse crowds. But your point reg. the cost of tickets keeping people away from cricket games in India is not accurate because the same centre (say for eg Mohali), for a game of T20 or ODI, is packed to the rafters while for test matches, the number of security personnel on duty outnumbers the spectators.

[Guest Hiten.]

Crowd attendance has nothing to do with ticket affordability, it's the time constraint that pulls the fans from going to the stadium. How many times has BCCI NOT scheduled a game on the days of Fri, Sat and Sun ? Most of our test matches are scheduled on bloody Mon/Tue-till the end of the week. You cannot expect people to skip work/school to attend a cricket match on daily basis. Also, as Outsider mentioned test cricket has to be played in metro cities because it makes it easy for fans to commute to and fro to the stadium. If we get correct personnel heading the Indian cricket franchise, these will be the first issues that would be taken care of because they are really no brainer issues.

[The Outsider]

^ I wasn't considering Hyderabad a 'cricketing' metro. In fact it just hosted a test after decades. The following centers invariably attract full houses (unless of course it's some crap test on a crap pitch, in which case even the Gabba was empty over the last 2 days for their biggest test of 4 years) - Bangalore, Madras, Bombay, Kanpur, Delhi, Calcutta.

[Ram]

Crowd attendance has nothing to do with ticket affordability' date=' it's the time constraint that pulls the fans from going to the stadium. How many times has BCCI NOT scheduled a game on the days of Fri, Sat and Sun ? Most of our test matches are scheduled on bloody Mon/Tue-till the end of the week. You cannot expect people to skip work/school to attend a cricket match on daily basis. Also, as Outsider mentioned test cricket has to be played in metro cities because it makes it easy for fans to commute to and fro to the stadium. If we get correct personnel heading the Indian cricket franchise, these will be the first issues that would be taken care of because they are really no brainer issues.[/quote'] I am sorry, but how many ODI/T20 matches have you seen, played during weekdays in Tier II cities with poor transport/connection facilties, that have not been sold out? The fact of the matter is, apart from a handful of cities, test cricket doesnt sell in India, as simple as that. The lack of interest in that form of the game among the Indian spectator has a lot of more bearing on the attendancee of the test matches, than all the other factors that you have mentioned.

[Sachin=GOD]

^ I wasn't considering Hyderabad a 'cricketing' metro. In fact it just hosted a test after decades. The following centers invariably attract full houses (unless of course it's some crap test on a crap pitch, in which case even the Gabba was empty over the last 2 days for their biggest test of 4 years) - Bangalore, Madras, Bombay, Kanpur, Delhi, Calcutta.

Kanpur usually is never full for a test match.........I've been to quite a few Tests in Kanpur but its only for ODIs that the Green Park fills up. Agree with the rest.

[Guest Hiten.]

I am sorry, but how many ODI/T20 matches have you seen, played during weekdays in Tier II cities with poor transport/connection facilties, that have not been sold out? The fact of the matter is, apart from a handful of cities, test cricket doesnt sell in India, as simple as that. The lack of interest in that form of the game among the Indian spectator has a lot of more bearing on the attendancee of the test matches, than all the other factors that you have mentioned.

Are you playing naive ? Travelling in a gruesome transportation facilities (let's admit it, our transportation facilities are of Class D if NOT F) for 5 consecutive days or travelling in those exact conditions for 1 day, you pick and tell me which one is more feasible in fans' POV. Test cricket is a self selling product but for our BCCI g@@ndo's rotational policy (to get the respective state board's presidents support). Nagpur has been a BIG FAIL in terms of hosting test cricket yet Manohar and his henchmen think of Nagpur ahead of other attractive grounds.

[Ram]

^ I wasn't considering Hyderabad a 'cricketing' metro. In fact it just hosted a test after decades. The following centers invariably attract full houses (unless of course it's some crap test on a crap pitch, in which case even the Gabba was empty over the last 2 days for their biggest test of 4 years) - Bangalore, Madras, Bombay, Kanpur, Delhi, Calcutta.

2007- India Vs Pakistan- Marquee clash between two arch rivals played at Delhi - One of the more intense test matches played in India in the recent years - Not a high-scoring borefest, but a rather low-scoring close encounter that we managed to win in the end. Qualifies in your criterion for a full-house right? But, I can tell you for a FACT, that there were no 'full-houses'.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Guest Hiten.]

Kanpur usually is never full for a test match.........I've been to quite a few Tests in Kanpur but its only for ODIs that the Green Park fills up. Agree with the rest.

You cannot be anymore wrong than that.

[The Outsider]

2007- India Vs Pakistan- Marquee clash between two arch rivals played at Delhi - One of the more intense test matches played in India in the recent years - Not a high-scoring borefest, but a rather low-scoring close encounter that we managed to win in the end. Qualifies in your criterion for a full-house right? But, I can tell you for a FACT, that there were no 'full-houses'.

A quick search on youtube gave me this : 3GV7IA-aev88 Looks pretty full to me specially when you consider the fact that it looks early morning and Pakistan are batting.

[Ram]

Are you playing naive ? Travelling in a gruesome transportation facilities (let's admit it, our transportation facilities are of Class D if NOT F) for 5 consecutive days or travelling in those exact conditions for 1 day, you pick and tell me which one is more feasible in fans' POV. Test cricket is a self selling product but for our BCCI g@@ndo's rotational policy (to get the respective state board's presidents support). Nagpur has been a BIG FAIL in terms of hosting test cricket yet Manohar and his henchmen think of Nagpur ahead of other attractive grounds.

Of course I am not being naïve. In most of the Tier-II centres, the combined attendance of 5 days for a test match does not even add up to the single day attendance of a T20/ODI. Trust me, if people want to go to a cricket match in India, they will. FFS, we’re a country that packs stadia to full capacity 2 hours before a 8.30 am start in winters. I am sorry, but your portrayal of the problem of poor attendances for test matches as some sort of direct consequences of logistical challenges just isn’t true. It’s a question of spectator interest, plain and simple.

[The Outsider]

Naaah Proff. I went to the B'luru test and even when Baasu was spanking the Aussies silly the entire top tier of the Chinnaswamy was more or less empty. Yes there was sufficient crowd in the lower tier but its not like what used to be in the days bygone and what you get for tontee-tontee :mad: . Its all about limited overs cricket in Ind - by and large.

From watching on TV, the ground looked around 80% full - is that a fair assessment? And 80% full, for me at least qualifies as a full house, given that it's a 5 day sport and you cannot expect everyone to be there at the ground all the time for 5 days.

[Sachin=GOD]

You cannot be anymore wrong than that.

in the last 10 years there have been 3 test matches in Kanpur and I've been to all of them (1 against Sri Lanka and 2 against South Africa and I could'nt see the crowds in any of these matches) while the stadium was overflowing with people during the 2 ODIs I have been to in Kanpur (against Pak in 2005 - where Afridi hit 9 sixes on his way to 102 :(( and again one match against Pak in 2007).

[Ram]

A quick search on youtube gave me this : 3GV7IA-aev88 Looks pretty full to me specially when you consider the fact that it looks early morning and Pakistan are batting.

I cant post videos now, but you can search for yourself if you want and you will also find videos for the same match that shows with several sections of the stands half empty. But here’s the bottom line fact -I never said crowds don’t for tests in metros, they do. But to say they attract ‘full-houses’, that too on most days, is just not true. The metros get decent crowds on weekdays and near capacity crowds on weekends.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[The Outsider]

I cant post videos now, but you can search for yourself if you want and you will also find videos for the same match that shows with several sections of the stands half empty.

Kotla has been under renovation for many years and it's possible some sections were closed. Look at the crowd at Kotla the day Kumble took 10 wickets - it was full.

But here’s the bottom line fact -I never said crowds don’t for tests in metros, they do. But to say they attract ‘full-houses’, that too on most days, is just not true. The metros get decent crowds on weekdays and near capacity crowds on weekends.

Test cricket is never going to give you full houses like ODIs and T20s anywhere in the world for the simple fact that it is a sport stretching across 5 days. I have watched matches in the stadium during the 80s and 90s and even then the stadiums were never full houses in the literal sense for Test matches, unless it was some special day. The reason is simple - a lot of people get complimentary tickets and don't show up unless there is some special action going on. Even during the days of my father watching cricket in the stadium, it was never a full house unless it was some special day. A regular full house of test cricket is around 80% of the capacity.