Disgrace

It was a common theme of discussion during the India v England ODI series that the grounds were uncommonly empty. (Common during the rare passages of play in which England were not collapsing, anyway.) Various reasons were mooted, such as too much exposure to cricket and the big names not playing for India. (And apparently a number of Indian ‘supporters’ only like to watch India bat.) I wasn’t too surprised then, to hear that the crowds for the first test against the West Indies were also small. The West Indies are a smaller draw than England now, and the Indian public prefer limited overs matches anyway. Still, the big guns are back for India and it’s a chance for them to recover some face after their humiliation in England so shouldn’t a lot of people show up?

Apparently not, and this account goes a long way to explaining why. No country is immune to jobsworths and bureaucracy of course, least of all England, but compare that attitude to the one displayed by those in charge of last day ticket sales at Lord’s over the summer. We saw this same sort of farce at the World Cup last year; England’s match against India was moved at the last minute without regard to the accommodations already booked by the travelling supporters, the ticket sales mayhem for the same match and the rather amusing story of Geoffrey Boycott summoning a general to prevent his sandwiches from being confiscated. (In fact, Adam Mountford’s blog from the World Cup is basically a day by day tale of incompetence.) The fact that any international ground can treat its fans in such a manner is a disgrace and must be considered as part of the reason for poor attendances.