Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Fears of a record-low crowd for AUS vs WI Perth Test | Australia vs West Indies Perth Test expected to have low crowd
After a record-low MCG crowd for the third Australia-England ODI, crowd figures are not looking particularly promising for the upcoming Australia-West Indies Test at Perth. This is according to veteran cricket journalist John Townsend, who was The West Australian’s Chief Cricket writer for 27 years.
Speaking to Sportsday WA, Townsend said “I’m hearing that ticket pre-sales, it’s only a week before the match, are in the hundreds. Not the thousands, but in the hundreds of sales.”
“It could be a record-low West Australian Test,” he warned.
AUS vs WI Perth Test expected to see small crowd
Less than 8,000 fans attended day one of the Australia-Zimbabwe Test in October 2003. This remains the lowest figure for day one of a Perth Test. Townsend believes day one of the Australia-West Indies 2022 Test will hold the unwanted record.
“Remember when Zimbabwe came in October of 2003? It was one of the very few Tests played before November,” he said.
“For that game, crowds were in the low thousands and I think this could be replicated again next week. It’s very sad, at a stadium [Optus] that’s a fantastic place to play cricket.”
ALSO READ: Is cricket dying in Australia?
When providing reasons why this may be the case, Townsend pointed to the West Indies’ struggles plus the public’s disconnect with the Australia team. Former coach and Western Australian Justin Langer recently spoke of how “cowards”, i.e. players who leaked information to the media behind his back, played a role in his sacking earlier this year.
“I think there’s a lot of elements in Australian cricket and West Australian cricket at the moment that are working against the best interest of the game,” Townsend said.
“I think we’re going to see it, people will vote with their feet. Whether it’ll be embarrassing or not, that’s for the people to decide but I think it’s going to be very low.”
Australia vs West Indies Test series 2022 schedule
- 1st Test, Optus Stadium, Perth, November 30-December 4.
- 2nd Test, Adelaide Oval, December 8-12.
ALSO READ: How Cricket Australia has lost touch with the public