Graveney accepts blame as crowd goes missing (6 August 1999)

6 August 1999

Graveney accepts blame as crowd goes missing

Peter Deeley

Old Trafford has rarely seen a smaller, or less animated, first day Test crowd than the 7,000 who turned up for the start of this game.

At its peak before the afternoon rain, the ground, with an 18,000 capacity, was much less than half full. By the close it had dwindled to about 4,000.

That compares with the 14,000 for last week's Roses clash in the NatWest quarter-final.

England manager David Graveney was prepared to accept where the finger of blame seemed to pointing.

"If the crowd is a reflection on the way we played at Lord's in the second Test, then it is justified.

"I have always said you don't get support by right. You have to earn it. We have come here after a performance which wasn't just below par, but extremely poor. That creates its own pressure and we have to put it right."

Jim Cumbes, Lancashire's chief executive, said that contrary to popular opinion "only West Indies and Australia break the first-day crowd barrier".

He added: "We always tend to think of the first day as a sell-out but that isn't the case with New Zealand, a good side but low on charisma."

Lancashire budgeted for a crowd of about 35,000 if the match goes its full five days - compared with the 50,000 who watched last summer's South Africa Test here.

Then the size of the opening day crowd - 11,200 - brought extensive discussion about the fading appeal of England cricket in this country, an assertion vigorousy disputed at the time by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The ECB argued that on the basis of 15-year attendance patterns, the 1998 Old Trafford figure was only just below average.

This year the gaps in the stands were more noticeable and cries of derision greeted England at the close.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)