Did anyone actually watch the first Test?
Nobody ever expected an Ashes-like audience for the first Test of Australia’s home summer but the turnout at the Gabba was disappointing regardless, writes Jon Pierik in the Daily Telegraph .
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
Nobody ever expected an Ashes-like audience for the first Test of Australia’s home summer but the turnout at the Gabba was disappointing regardless, writes Jon Pierik in the Daily Telegraph.
If cricket is a game of statistics, then attendances for the first Test at the Gabba would surely have this great ground struggling to hold its spot in the side. Queensland Cricket had hoped for an overall match attendance of about 60,000. It didn't even reach that modest figure, with 55,953 (1285 yesterday) filing through the turnstiles over five days, although it was one of the best returns for a series involving a sub-continental team. Whatever spin Cricket Australia puts on that, it's not good enough for a sport which claims to occupy the hearts and minds of Australians in summer.
Cricket Australia also comes under scrutiny in the Australian, where Peter Lalor looks at the potential for Muttiah Muralitharan to break Shane Warne’s Test wicket record at Hobart with no photographic coverage because of the ongoing dispute with media organisations.
In the Herald Sun, Steve Waugh assesses Sri Lanka’s problems and decides they made the mistake of trying to be competitive rather than planning how to win.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here