Cricket fans' grounds for concern

By Neil Prior BBC Wales news website

County championship cricket struggles to attract big crowds

Exactly a year from now, the home of Glamorgan cricket will be reverberating with the roars of 16,000 England fans.

The utterly transformed Swalec Stadium hosts the first Test against old enemies Australia.

The gleaming stands and hospitality boxes are already in place for the mouth-watering Ashes clash.

But on the rain-affected first day of Glamorgan's County Championship Division Two match against Essex, the only roaring to be heard came from the tractor dragging the covers, and the soporific snores of an old man dozing behind his newspaper.

This is by no means a scene unique to Glamorgan.

County championship matches the length and breadth of the country can be played out before a small band of loyal, some would say fanatical, followers.

Twenty20 is a good idea but I think it's overkill Brian Day, Glamorgan supporter

But with the prospect of an English Twenty20 premier league in the mould of the massively lucrative Indian Premier League, are the old guard welcoming the razzmatazz - or holding onto traditions?

Brian Day, who has followed Glamorgan's wavering fortunes for 40 years, said he enjoyed the 20-over game but the four-day county championship should always be a priority.

"Twenty20 is a good idea but I think it's overkill.

"What I would like to see is a Twenty20 league but obviously you have got to have a four-day game.

"I like it, I like all forms of cricket but some people I know won't come to watch a Twenty20 game."

Cricket globally is changing, probably at a more rapid pace than at any time in its history Mike Fatkin, Glamorgan chief executive

At least the purists can take comfort from Glamorgan chairman Paul Russell, who later in the day opposed the latest plan for an English Premier League saying it is based on "fairytale economics".

However it is not only the sport itself which is changing.

I spoke to a group of supporters from the Rhondda who have followed the county for 20 years, through the highs (a championship title in 1997) and the slimmer pickings of recent times.

They accepted with good grace the fact that investment in the playing staff had to take a back seat to the �9.5m development of the Sophia Gardens ground if Glamorgan were to have a sustainable future.

But they worry that the corporate bandwagon is now running out of control, leaving them second-class citizens in their own club.

It's a nice club but seems to have lost some of that homely atmosphere Mark Beauchamp, Glamorgan supporter

Mike Faull, 53, from Ton Pentre, said: "There's a divide between old-time members and the new people coming in with the money.

"I think the stadium had to go ahead but the way they've approached it as far as the fans are concerned hasn't been very good.

"In one fell swoop you were contained to two-thirds of the ground and treated like second-class citizens.

"We wrote a letter in about the situation and we didn't get a response."

His friend Mark Beauchamp, 47, from Porth, shared his friend's concerns but seemed resigned to it being the price of progress.

"It's a nice club but seems to have lost some of that homely atmosphere," he said.

"If they want to have test matches in Wales, we've got to accept that.

"It's one of the biggest events of next summer."

In the expensive seats, David Maternagham said he believed cricket needed to be able to market itself to a new audience.

"This kind of facility together with the game changing with Twenty20 and Pro40 is bringing it to the masses.

"You see what's happened with rugby on Sky and football on Sky.

"Cricket's got to become more marketable."

606: DEBATE What's your view of developments at Glamorgan?

"But at some point the playing staff have to match the facilities," he added.

Glamorgan chief executive Mike Fatkin said that revenue from county cricket had been "dwindling year on year" and the club had to diversify to survive.

"Cricket globally is changing, probably at a more rapid pace than at any time in its history.

"We have, at Glamorgan, some of the most loyal and traditional followers in the country, and I can completely understand the apprehension some of them have.

"But Glamorgan, as one club in one country have very limited scope to influence or slow that change, and in many respects we'd be wrong to try and do so.

"Four-day cricket isn't attracting the crowds, and without them we can't exist, but that doesn't mean Twenty20 should come at the expense of championship cricket. "

He said he understood some members may have felt "lost and bewildered" at their own club but added Glamorgan were adapting and "hopefully their experiences in recent weeks will have been a lot more positive".

With 120 years of cricketing heritage behind them, one thing which everyone can agree upon is that Glamorgan now have a home fit for the 21st Century.

As for what will be played there, and who exactly will be watching, I guess we will have to wait and see.

* The opening day's play was abandoned because of rain.

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