Tasmania disappointed at final timing

Tasmania will be lucky to break even when they host their first Pura Cup final next week because the game will not be played over a weekend, according to the Tasmanian Cricket Association. David Johnston, the TCA's chief executive, said he expected far fewer spectators for the Monday-to-Friday clash than if the match started later in the week.

The Tigers host New South Wales at Bellerive Oval from Monday and the game will be broadcast live throughout Australia on Foxtel. Johnston said he raised the scheduling issue with the game's authorities before the season started but nothing had changed.

"We wrote to Cricket Australia saying we weren't entirely happy with that," Johnston told Hobart's Mercury. "If we got into the final, we thought it would be a disadvantage because we have never had a final here.

"We will get some feedback from people who can't attend because of work commitments and things like that. Going through the week, hopefully we will get 3000 to 4000 a day." Johnston said Cricket Australia cited small crowds at previous finals as the reason it would not change its decision. Last year's decider started on a Friday at the Gabba.

"[Cricket Australia] looked at that and Fox came and said, `We can telecast it, but we can only telecast from Monday to Friday because we have got commitments on the weekend'," Johnston said. "They thought to promote the game itself and have it go Australia-wide on pay-TV would be terrific, so that is why they took the option of going Monday to Friday rather than over a weekend. It is not ideal for Tasmania, but for cricket in Australia overall it is a fair decision."

Johnston said the state's revenue could be hit by the lack of Saturday-Sunday play. "There are a number of expenses, and it also depends on how many [spectators] you get, but generally there is never a huge profit," he said. "We hope to break even if we can."