I’m sure we’re all missing live Cricket at the moment. I haven’t seen a professional game in the flesh for over a year now. And it feels weird.
What’s worse, it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to visit our local county ground (or indeed watch England play) for the foreseeable future. The ECB and the counties had hoped to get some spectators in for Bob Willis Trophy. But an increase in coronavirus cases put paid to that.
It’s so disappointing. If I ever see Bruce Wayne – surely the person responsible for Covid jumping from bats to humans – then I’ll give him a right earful.
This summer has been doubly disappointing from a spectator’s perspective because back in July it looked like game on. There were trial matches at The Oval and Edgbaston, in which a thousand spectators were allowed to attend, and all seemed to be going well.
However, just a week later the government cancelled plans for a limited number of spectators to attend a first class fixture at The Oval. A racing meet and a snooker tournament also experienced setbacks – although some spectators were ultimately allowed to watch the World Championship at The Crucible.
Sadly the prospect of Crowds returning to live sporting events seems bleaker by the day, and some epidemiologists are predicting a Covid-19 surge in the autumn. The decision to postpone the T20 World Cup later this year now seems prudent. It doesn’t look like any of us – even those who follow England abroad – are likely to see much live cricket until a vaccine accelerates the path to herd immunity.
The one glimmer of hope, however, is that crowds are meant to return to football stadia on 3rd October. And if football can pull it off then I don’t see why cricket can’t do the same – although it will be too late to rescue the English summer by then. We’d need the mother of all Indian summers to see spectators outside in autumn.
That said, the details re: football crowds seem sketchy at best. We’ve heard that social distancing will be imposed, that fans won’t be allowed to sing or chant, and that ground capacities may be reduced by approximately 70%. Is this feasible? I really don’t know. After all, Man Utd’s Old Trafford (the second best sporting arena in its postcode) could still cater for over 20,000 people even if it’s only a third full. That’s a lot of people to get to and from the ground. I’m not sure whether staggered arrival times an overcome this problem.
Fortunately, cricket isn’t quite in the same position though. Most international cricket grounds in England hold between 30,000 (Lord’s) and 25,000 (Edgbaston, The Ageas Bowl, The Oval) so the sheer number of people won’t be that great. It’s still obviously a challenge though.
Attending first class county fixtures should be easier. Attendances are much lower so I’m sure that county members (if not the broader public) could stay two metres away from each other quite comfortably. T20 Blast games at smaller venues could be trickier but Surrey did allow 2,500 supporters into The Oval last night for their game against Hants. That’s 10% capacity – better than nothing but there’s obviously still a way to go.
Unfortunately, I suspect most of us will have to make do with TV coverage only this season. It’s a good thing, therefore, that cricket broadcasting is so bloody good. In fact, I would’ve been quite happy to watch the T20 World Cup without crowds anyway. I enjoyed both the BBC and Sky’s coverage of the recent T20s against Pakistan and soon forgot that the beer swillers were absent.
The only problem with modern TV coverage though is that it’s sometimes hard to remember which game is on which channel. The first T20 against Pakistan was on Sky; the second was on BBC; and the third was back on Sky. It will be the same story with the upcoming T20s against the Canary Yellows. And don’t get me started on all the other competitions around the world …
The Caribbean Premier League is on Sky – but some of it is on Sky Sports Mix (which is free to all Sky subscribers irrespective of whether they pay extra for Sports). Meanwhile, the Pakistan Super League was on HUM Masala – a channel you can pick up on both Sky and Virgin. As for the IPL, that was on BT Sport last year but now it’s on Sky.
Maybe it’s my advancing years but I find it almost impossible to keep up these days. I’ve actually bookmarked WherestheMatch.com, a site that tells me what’s on, which channel it’s on (and when) so I don’t miss out. This is a sensitive subject for me because not long ago I completely missed that my football team had been knocked out of the FA Cup by a minnow. I nearly missed the resumption of the rugby season a few weeks ago too. Luckily an old friend of mine pointed out that every single Premiership match is available on BT Sport via the red button.
Anyway I digress. Another subject I quickly wanted to raise is whether cricket actually needs crowds? Yes a live audience undoubtedly adds to the overall atmosphere, but are crowds really necessary to enjoy sport on TV? I was somewhat disappointed when they postponed The Ryder Cup, for example, because I was quite looking forward to watching it without the tedious din of “U.S.A … U.S.A … U.S.A” every time Tiger Woods actually hits a fairway for a change.
I might be in the minority but I didn’t particularly miss the crowds at the Tests this summer either. I’m more interested in the game itself. I quite liked hearing the sound of bat on ball, and the fielders chirping, rather than constant cheering. In fact, I found artificial ‘hum’ added by the broadcasters particularly contrived, especially as the hum didn’t change when a wicket fell or a boundary was scored. It sounded like the most disinterest cricket crowd in history.
I just don’t understand the point of creating a fake atmosphere myself. I’d much rather hear what the players are hearing so I can see events unfold in their true context. I find the fake crowd noise in the football (and the rugby) even more ridiculous to be honest.
Obviously cricket and these other sports need the income generated from ticket sales to survive in the long run. However, I’m sure our national sports can survive one season without gate receipts. The football Premier League earns most of its revenue from broadcasting and English cricket is the same: the ECB gets most of it’s income from Sky, and the counties get a significant slice of their income from the ECB.
We’ll definitely need the crowds back next season though – that’s for sure. But until then I think I’ll enjoy the silence.
James Morgan
The post Working The Crowds: How Much Does Cricket Actually Need A Live Audience? appeared first on The Full Toss.
