Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

Arthur Crabtree wrote:£70 at Trent Bridge.

The loss of the weekend as the core of the match complicates pricing.

Ticket prices hugely effects the crowd. £70 wipes out a huge amount of the potential audience.

I think there was a swell of feelgood support centred around the Fletcher years, and the re-emergence of an exciting, winning team that struck off decades of bad results, home and away. And that period wore the ticket prices fairly lightly and built up support through C4 coverage. But the last four years of attritional cricket, the eight years loss of the game to Sky and the current bad feeling surrounding the post Ashes period has soured the mood. Sending us back to the crowds we see on VHS when English cricket was a joke.

Recovery will be difficult. There was always potential for the game to reconnect with the public when it was on terrestrial tv. Less certain now. Participation in supporting the England team live over the past few years has felt a bit like subscribing to watching it on tv. You join it at a point where it just about feels affordable, but each year it grows in expense, and each year that loyalty is stretched further. In an economic slump, more people will have to say no.

sussexpob wrote:

Aidan11 wrote:

sussexpob wrote:

D/L wrote:

sussexpob wrote:Biggest Indian communities in the UK......

Birmigham
Sandwell (part of Birmingham essentially)
Wolverhampton
Leicester (what, about 30 miles from Birmingham).....

No test at Edgbaston? Who made that decision

Leeds and Bradford must be well up there too.

I think, and I can be corrected, that the Asian populations that make up the Leeds-Bradford area is vastly more Pakistani in origin. Something like 25% in Bradford, with only say 1-2% Indian.

That was what Headingley were banking on for their neutral test series with Australia a couple of years back but it failed spectacularly.

A lot of money for a ticket in a recession, especially when Bradford area is supposed to have a really bad employment ratio.

KipperJohn wrote:Even after retirement it took me years to finally decide to go to a Test. Whilst cost was a factor it's also very much the thought that you'll travel quite a long way, only to find that some, or all of the day is lost because of the weather. I've always planned my life in advance, rarely going to an event on the spur of the moment. You book, pay out, arrange travel etc , then wonder if it's going to be worth it. Fortunately, my visit to the Ageas Bowl was nigh perfect, especially the cricket.

I still plan to take the Lord's tour - that seems well worth the travel etc., but actually going to a day's cricket is probably a bit prohibitive.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Most venues should be able to attract a crowd from the host city though. The grounds aren't big. My guess is that the price is the biggest factor in stopping that from happening. As time goes on, the Sky monopoly will bite.

Albondiga wrote:

KipperJohn wrote:Even after retirement it took me years to finally decide to go to a Test. Whilst cost was a factor it's also very much the thought that you'll travel quite a long way, only to find that some, or all of the day is lost because of the weather. I've always planned my life in advance, rarely going to an event on the spur of the moment. You book, pay out, arrange travel etc , then wonder if it's going to be worth it. Fortunately, my visit to the Ageas Bowl was nigh perfect, especially the cricket.

I still plan to take the Lord's tour - that seems well worth the travel etc., but actually going to a day's cricket is probably a bit prohibitive.

The Lords tour is a must for cricket lovers.

sussexpob wrote:

Albondiga wrote:

KipperJohn wrote:Even after retirement it took me years to finally decide to go to a Test. Whilst cost was a factor it's also very much the thought that you'll travel quite a long way, only to find that some, or all of the day is lost because of the weather. I've always planned my life in advance, rarely going to an event on the spur of the moment. You book, pay out, arrange travel etc , then wonder if it's going to be worth it. Fortunately, my visit to the Ageas Bowl was nigh perfect, especially the cricket.

I still plan to take the Lord's tour - that seems well worth the travel etc., but actually going to a day's cricket is probably a bit prohibitive.

The Lords tour is a must for cricket lovers.

Lords is a horrible place to watch cricket. You spend all day being judged by someone who looks like the English Upper Class equivalent of Ronald MacDonald, who knows nothing about cricket but thinks he owns the place because of his MCC membership he bought.

The "home of cricket thing" wears off by 11:30am, by which time Ronald MacDonald has already loudly told his mate about his new stock broking venture, and how its the normal bloke two rows in front quietly sipping a beer on his own that is "whats wrong with the test matches now".

God forbid you get in a queue for food or drink in front of him.... don't you know he is a member?

D/L wrote:

sussexpob wrote:

Albondiga wrote:

KipperJohn wrote:Even after retirement it took me years to finally decide to go to a Test. Whilst cost was a factor it's also very much the thought that you'll travel quite a long way, only to find that some, or all of the day is lost because of the weather. I've always planned my life in advance, rarely going to an event on the spur of the moment. You book, pay out, arrange travel etc , then wonder if it's going to be worth it. Fortunately, my visit to the Ageas Bowl was nigh perfect, especially the cricket.

I still plan to take the Lord's tour - that seems well worth the travel etc., but actually going to a day's cricket is probably a bit prohibitive.

The Lords tour is a must for cricket lovers.

Lords is a horrible place to watch cricket. You spend all day being judged by someone who looks like the English Upper Class equivalent of Ronald MacDonald, who knows nothing about cricket but thinks he owns the place because of his MCC membership he bought.

The "home of cricket thing" wears off by 11:30am, by which time Ronald MacDonald has already loudly told his mate about his new stock broking venture, and how its the normal bloke two rows in front quietly sipping a beer on his own that is "whats wrong with the test matches now".

God forbid you get in a queue for food or drink in front of him.... don't you know he is a member?

The media centre is a monstrosity too. I heard someone once say it had been inspired by Cherie Blair's mouth.

A tour of Headingley, with memorabilia of two great sports to be seen, is much better and probably a damned sight cheaper.

Aidan11 wrote:Not been to the new Headingley but from TV pictures it looks to have more of a stadium look than a cricket ground.

Makes me want to put the Botham's Ashes DVD back on again.

Dr Robert wrote:

Aidan11 wrote:Not been to the new Headingley but from TV pictures it looks to have more of a stadium look than a cricket ground.

Makes me want to put the Botham's Ashes DVD back on again.

Pity nobody turns up