 | CAUSE FOR HOPE?  We have an outstanding, ever-changing product - a sport that a lot of people want to see Des Wilson
ECB corporate affairs chairman |
English cricket has thrown up the shutters to defend itself over claims the county game is slowly dying. Critics say there are too many professional cricketers playing too much cricket.
But officials at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) can point to figures showing a more rosy picture.
Attendances rose by 22% in domestic cricket in 2003, and not only as a result of the instant appeal of the new Twenty20 Cup.
Although nobody sponsored the Sunday League last season, 410,536 paying punters watched its matches compared to 358,667 in 2002.
Even the much-maligned County Championship dusted off the cobwebs to receive 530,938 through the turnstiles.
This was a rise of more than 24,000 on 2002 and a healthy improvement on 2001's low-point of 479,427. However, attendances there are still short of the 573,705 mark of 1997.
Des Wilson, chairman of the ECB's Corporate Affairs Committee, said: "The so-called reformers tell us we should be business-like in the way we run cricket.
"But what other business has to endure those who claim to be its friends going out into the market-place day after day talking down its value?
"We have an outstanding, ever-changing product - a sport that a lot of people want to see."
Wilson, in a speech to the First Class Forum, said it was crucial to retain all 18 first-class counties.
He said: "They create maximum accessibility for people all over the country.
 Twenty20 cricket was a runaway success last summer |
"They offer the right level of player opportunity, and they inspire supporter loyalty in a way artificially created regions with no history and no sense of place ever could." There are plenty of areas for concern, however.
In 1997, 92,973 people came to watch the premier knock-out competition, the NatWest Trophy. Now known as the C&G Trophy, it attracted just 67,729 last season.
The real strugglers though are the matches between touring sides and often heavily-depleted county outfits.
In 2003, attendances for those games hit rock bottom at 37,020, down from 89,582 in 1997.
The obvious runaway success was Twenty20, which attracted 257,759 spectators to its giddy brand of three-hour cricket.
Its introduction justified the decision to axe the Benson & Hedges Cup which failed to attract even half those numbers.
On the international front, 630,213 tickets were sold, down from the Ashes summer of 2001 but still 24% more than last year.
MMIX
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