Some critics in Australia are quick to blame the average punter for not attending test cricket. They’ve expressed their lack of interest with their feet. A dire crowd attended the first test of last summer in Perth against the West Indies – only 59,125 attended across 4 days, 2 of those being weekends.
Questions need to be asked. Is it the dominance of the Australian cricket team at home leading to a perceived lack of competitiveness in Test matches played on Australian soil? The team’s consistent success may have led to a diminished level of excitement and anticipation among fans, potentially contributing to lower attendance.
Are we living the official decline of Test cricket due to the rapid rise of T20 cricket? Has cricket become seasonal in the extreme, where we only flick on the cricket during Boxing Day and New Year tests?
Nathan Lyon celebrates one of his six wickets at Wellington’s Basin Reserve. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
Before condemning the average punter, you must remember there are a range of factors at play, including the aforementioned consistent team success. The TikTok generation is in desperate need of quick hits of dopamine, and the cost-of-living crisis is real.
However, from an Australian millennial point of view, seeing the Basin Reserve in all its glory was a reminder of what it was like ‘back in the day’, and something we simply cannot experience in Australia anymore.
Yes sure, the Sydney Cricket Ground has the Ladies Pavilion and the ‘Yabba’ statue, the Adelaide Oval has the hill and the old scoreboard. The Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is more of a football ground, should be afforded some form of dignity due to its standing in the Australian sporting folklore.
As for both the Gabba and Perth Stadium, they are horrible places to watch uneventful results in the scorching sun. Simply put, it is not Test cricket’s fault; it’s the Australian grounds that are at fault. They absolutely lack relevance and character.
Alternatively, the Basin Reserve which hosted the first test between Australia and New Zealand has a certain refined charm to it. There is a sense of tranquillity walking into the ground, then a hush around the ground during the first hour of each day’s play. In Australia beers are already skolled and Mexican waves have already begun.
First Session Completed ???? pic.twitter.com/ue7SyyXPQZ
— Cello Basin Reserve (@BasinReserve) March 1, 2024
The grandstand at the western end, accompanied by a Cricket Museum full of New Zealand cricket memorabilia, looks over the average Joe on the hill in the foreground and the picturesque Mount Victoria in the background. Schools are to the southern side of the ground and other Wellington landmarks accompany it.
Sitting on the hill at the base of the mountain. I felt a tinge of sadness. Every man, woman and child scurries to the get the best vantage point before the start of the day’s play and with the close proximity of other punters, it allows yarns to be spun and a certain level of fellowship.
This venue seems to bring players back down to earth. There are no bright lights or fireworks. It’s almost like the local cricket ground in either Bondi in the east or Bunbury in the west.
Fan engagement is at an all-time high as the crowd is as close to the playing surface as you will get in world cricket. So much so they invite fans onto the ground at lunch. Informal games of cricket appear here and there on the ground during the big break.
You simply cannot get that in Australia.
Fans on the field at lunch at the @BasinReserve ???? #NZvAUS pic.twitter.com/D9xuPqPLrR
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 1, 2024
It’s a blast from the past and something we simply miss out on. It is truly reminiscent of the Gabba in the 80’s – dog track, hill and heavy beer (which the Basin Reserve also provides, I might add).
If you make it to the cricket in Australia now you don’t get an experience, you just get sunburnt, overpriced food and drinks and an uneventful non-contest. Then there’s the tyrannical security service that quivers at the sight of fun in the grandstand.
I just hope that cricket boards and other sporting bodies see the Basin Reserve and other suburban grounds as the future of sport. Because at the end of the day, it is the experience that makes a day at cricket memorable.