West Indies face ticket squeeze (31 Oct 1997)

31 October 1997

West Indies face ticket squeeze

Mihir Bose

IT IS 30 years since England won a Test series in the Caribbean, Colin Cowdrey's team winning a solitary Test in Trinidad. On that tour the victory was witnessed by very few English supporters. Mihir Bose reports on the marked rise in English support at overseas Test matches.

E W Swanton, who reported the victory for this paper, recalls: "I doubt if there were more than a handful of English supporters in Trinidad, a few more, perhaps, in Jamaica, who had come from the north shore and probably a couple of hundred in Barbados." However, next year when Mike Atherton leads his men to the West Indies, the England presence in the Caribbean will be on an entirely different scale. Whatever the prospects on the field, Atherton's team will attract such English support that in certain Tests such as Barbados and Antigua they will probably outnumber the local support.

Next year's Test in Barbados has already been sold out, largely because of English interest, and Swanton, who as ever will be there, said: "This time I think the poor Bajans will struggle to get a ticket for the Test."

Drew Foster, chairman of ITC Sports and the Caribbean Connection, one of the main companies responsible for taking spectators there, reckons this time some 10,000 English supporters will get to the Tests and the one-day internationals.

He said that "4,000 to 5,000" would be going for one or more Tests and another 5,000 for a holiday, which also took in cricket.

"What is interesting is that most of them are traditional cricket supporters. More go for five-day Tests than one-day internationals, and such support does not seem to be related to performances on the field.

"Our lack of success does not seem to make a difference, not when the places are so attractive. Now if the location had been different, Pakistan say, I doubt if we would have got the numbers."

Foster is so certain of the numbers that he is organising two types of tours. One, at the relatively cheaper end of the market, is where for about £1,300 the English cricket supporter will get a 14-day package and take in two Tests, the back-to-back Barbados and Antigua matches.

But for the increasingly well-heeled cricket market there is also the luxury 14-day cruise which, apart from the Barbados and Antigua Tests, will include a cruise up the Orinoco river in Venezuela, where the Angel Falls inspired Arthur Conan Doyle. This is for the seriously rich punters, the basic cost starting at £6,675.

Foster is well aware of the fact that this English take-over of the great West Indian venues has come just as the Oval, long thought of as the West Indian home ground in this country, no longer attracts much West Indian support.

"The huge English presence," said Foster, "does cause resentment. The Bajan feels he has a divine right to go to cricket.

"He gets up in the morning and looks at the previous day's play, looks at the sky and decides he will go to the match. But, as in everything, finance takes the priority.

"The Barbadian Cricket Association can see dollars when 5,000 English supporters are prepared to buy their tickets months in advance, irrespective of the outcome or the weather."

However, the local authorities can claim this short-term pain is for the long-term good of the West Indian game. The money English supporters are bringing in has led to the Barbados Cricket Association increasing their capacity. Antigua is planning to do the same.

Some 20 tour operators will seek to lure English supporters to the Caribbean this winter with some famous cricket names, such as John Snow and Robin Smith.

Lin Sandifer, of Gulliver Sports, said: "This time English supporters are showing an interest in going in some numbers to Guyana and Trinidad, which is quite amazing."

Richard Hutton, editor of The Cricketer International, who hopes to be taking some 2,000 supporters, said the market had come a long way since Fred Rumsey, the former England fast bowler, started running pro-am cricket tours of Barbados. "Now there are several such operators and my feeling is that it's probably getting over-crowded. The key to this is selling to a captive audience."

The Cricketer International's captive audience is its readership and its rival, Wisden Cricket Monthly, is also marketing a tour, as are various county cricket clubs, such as Lancashire, Yorkshire and MCC. "In effect, we all provide the tour operator with a database," said Hutton.

Interestingly, the Barmy Army are not planning to have an official tour of the West Indies. The army, who acquired their name during England's last tour of Australia, are now quite a well established body with two trading companies and they released a record during the summer.

Paul Burnam, of the Barmy Army, said: "The moment we released the single, England started losing. We did look at organising an official tour of the West Indies, but the place is so laid-back that it's impossible to do.

"We may do so when England visit Australia next year. No doubt all the English cricket fans in the Caribbean will get that name once they get there."

Some of the travel agents have been quite keen to get the Barmy Army business, and Louise Bush, of Sunsport, having failed to do so, is offering a basic two-week package in Barbados, which she confesses is aimed at the typical Barmy Army type.

"If four lads want to go and take in the Test, then that is the market we are aiming for," she said.

Capacities (West Indian grounds): Kensington Oval, Barbados 8,983 (6,000 estimated supporters from England); Recreation Ground, Antigua 7,825 (5,000); Sabina Park, Jamaica, 13,500 (4,000); Queens Park, Trinidad 20,600 (3,000); Bourda, Guyana 13,473 (2,000); St Vincent (one-day international) 5,829 (3,000).

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