On the (alcohol fuelled) Madness of Crowds.

After the first one-day international between New Zealand and Australia, Ricky Ponting once again complained about the poor crowd behaviour that saw several of his team-mates have fruit and bottles thrown at them. This is not the first time that Australian teams in New Zealand have had to deal with this; poor crowd behaviour was a feature of Australia's one-day games when they toured New Zealand earlier this year.

There's no doubt in my mind that the demon drink is almost entirely responsible for the missile throwing and pitch invasions that occur in New Zealand and were formerly a frequent event in Australian one-day games as well. I was 'lucky' enough to experience one of these disturbances up close and personal in this fixture in Australia's tour of 2000, and I saw first hand the way in which the ground authorities were eager to maximise sales of the full strength local beverage- they were selling it by the six-pack.

Most of New Zealand's cricket fixtures are played on rugby grounds, and New Zealand Cricket do not control most of the venues. Eden Park, for example, is controlled by the Eden Park Trust Board. So there are limits to what New Zealand Cricket can do to limit the sale of alcohol. Ground authorities are keen to maximise their revenue, and there is little that can be done to restrict them.

In Australia, the cricket authorities are in a much stronger position. Cricket Australia affiliate bodies directly control four of Australia’s six main venues. These authorities were (and are) as keen as anyone else to maximise their revenue from the game, but are also mindful of the need to maintain order to attract patrons. I suspect that the insurance companies that protect them have played a role in insisting on stronger crowd control measures.

This means that in the public areas of Adelaide Oval, only low-alcohol beer can be served, for instance. The MCG is particularly fierce on controlling bad behaviour; your correspondent was once evicted from the premises because my then girlfriend tried to start the Mexican Wave. This reflects the dilemma of all ground authorities have, in trying to balance the conflicting needs of patrons who come to the game to intently watch every ball, and those that come to have a great time.

These measures have impacted on crowd figures at least in Melbourne, but they have been effective in reducing the often dreadful behaviour of Australian crowds in recent years.

In England, venues are controlled by the Counties, except for Lords, which is under the domain of the MCC. I have never been to England, but from my observation, England does not really have a problem with bad behaviour affecting play. This is despite a relaxed (by Australian standards) regime where people can bring in a small quantity of their own beer, and drink deeply of rather impressive looking pint-glasses. Given that drunken Englishmen and women devote themselves to song rather then more serious mischief, English crowds add rather then detract from the occasion of a cricket match.

That might make for an interesting clash of cultures when the now globalised "Barmy Army" arrives in India in February. Discreet enquiries revealed that Indian ground authorities are very strict indeed on bringing even water into the ground, and do not sell alcohol in the public areas in the stadiums. I observed a few of the "Barmy Army" diehards in Pakistan during England's current tour, and they did look awfully thirsty. It should be an interesting tour for England; it might be even more interesting for their thirsty travelling supporters.