Ponting blames poor crowds on glut of matches, not one-sided contests
The Sunday Age
Sunday February 21, 2010
AUSTRALIAN captain Ricky Ponting's theory that the summer's meagre one-day crowds are due to a glut of matches, rather than the poor performances of Pakistan and the West Indies, has been given short shrift by Cricket Australia.Just 15,538 were at the MCG on Friday night to watch Australia confirm its unbeaten summer in Tests and one-day internationals by thrashing the West Indies by 125 runs. That was 39 per cent lower than the 25,463 that attended the ground for the first match of the West Indies series a fortnight ago.Ponting rejected the suggestion Australia's 9-0 whitewash of the touring teams was the primary reason so few supporters attended the one-day series."I'm not sure if the lack of contest had anything to do with it at all to tell the truth. I just think that we've played a whole lot. Look at all the days of cricket the public have had to pay and go and watch during the summer. I think that's probably the reason why the numbers have dwindled off in the last week," the captain said.When asked if that meant he wanted fewer one-day internationals scheduled during Australian summer, Ponting replied: "Absolutely."Cricket Australia chief spokesman Peter Young, however, insisted the reason for the decline in one-day attendances this summer stemmed from Australia not being challenged throughout both five-match series."At the moment we're are at the bottom of a four-year cycle and we're coming towards the end of the summer where we've had, unfortunately, very lopsided contests. The public, at the end of the day, has only got a certain appetite for walkovers," Young said.CA is hoping the presence of arch rival England next summer for a seven-match series €” to be preceded by a three-match series against Sri Lanka to begin the summer €” will reignite spectator interest.
© 2010 The Sunday Age
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