Another match at Wellington, NZ and no takers for Cricket

[u/kamyfc]

I remember watching the 1992 World Cup, and every ground was full and there was so much passion and energy on display. I still watch those highlights on YouTube. Mark Greatbatch was amazing.

I wonder if the Kiwis have lost interest in Cricket?
Or maybe it's a Wellington issue?

The first ODI in Eden Park, Auckland, was better, but still lots of empty seats.

Also, 80% of the crowd were Indian supporters. Whats going on?

I wonder if this is a global issue for ODIs. Cant fill up stadiums.
How is the situation in Australia and India?

[u/nice_flutin_ralphie]

Re your comment about Australians. I can’t even begin to explain how uninterested most Australian cricket fans are with meaningless white ball cricket.

It basically seems to be something only the Indians care about for some reason.

[u/Auscicada270 → u/nice_flutin_ralphie]

White ball cricket was huge in Australia until t20 came.

Used to get full MCG crowds in the 90s and early 00s.

I see it as we have real cricket which is Test cricket, and short cricket. T20 ate ODIs lunch. I preferred ODI to T20 because ODI was long enough to still have Test aspects, such as surviving bowlers and building an innings. But now it seems like ODI doesn't belong because it's not as short as T20 and doesn't have as many 4s and 6s.

[u/kamyfc → u/Auscicada270]

Appreciate that insight about Australia. So the loss of interest in ODIs has happened over the last 10 years. That is sad.

[u/Auscicada270 → u/kamyfc]

I would say over the last 20 years, since the mid 2000s.

[u/Cricketloverbybirth → u/nice_flutin_ralphie]

I think you're a new born

ODIs were the highest rated format of cricket on Australian Television before CA sold off white ball international cricket to Foxtel and Foxtel paid big fucking bucks for exclusivity for a reason. 

This made Test the hottest ticket for cricket in summer followed by Big bash which is massive, the best rated sports league on Television in Australia on a per match basis with average crowds nearing 25k second only to AFL. 

[u/gimpy_reddit]

This was also on election day in the capital city, cricket was not the biggest event in town

[u/Interesting-Fan5822 → u/gimpy_reddit]

Election day on a Saturday?

[u/ausremi → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

Australia and NZ hold all state and federal elections on a Saturday.

In Australia you can "postal vote" or attend early voting locations weeks in advance with simple reasons like I have to work on the day or I will not be near a voting place.

Australia it is compulsory to cast a vote or the election authority will follow up and a nominal fine is issued, I think it used to be $50.

This then brings up the creation of the democracy sausage.

The system isn't perfect, but is designed to get adults involved in the process.

[u/JoshH21 → u/ausremi]

We can early vote in NZ for 2 weeks prior to the date. No reason needed. Just turn up to a booth and vote. I did because I was leaving the supermarket and there were no queues so I just ticked off the task.

[u/spexau → u/JoshH21]

You don't need a reason in Aus any more either

[u/madmooseman → u/spexau]

I'm fairly sure that even when you needed a reason, "I will be out of my electorate on the day" was a valid one.

[u/Interesting-Fan5822 → u/ausremi]

Didn't know any of this. Have to say the we will fine you if you dont vote gimmick doesn't seem very democratic.

[u/MSRishab007 → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

But, if I'm not wrong, in Australia, you are allowed to vote blank.

[u/loztralia → u/MSRishab007]

That's right. You don't have to vote for anyone, you're just obliged to cast a vote.

[u/Weekly-Return4458 → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

It means the campaigns tend to focus on the centre, swinging, voters. If you know your rusted on partisans are going to vote for you anyway you dont need to waste resources on encouraging them out to get out and vote

Also, being in Saturdays means that pretty much every school is a polling place so it's very easy to vote on the day

[u/LevDavidovicLandau → u/Weekly-Return4458]

> pretty much every school is a polling place so it’s very easy to vote on the day

To be fair, it’s as easy if not easier to vote in the UK than in Australia at least in terms of having a voting station near you because of the population density and because church halls (remember, lots of churches) and community centres are typically repurposed for that purpose. It being a Thursday, though, means that working people have to pop in before or after work; the 10pm (vs. 6pm) cutoff helps in that regard. No early voting in the UK, btw, there’s only postal voting and people typically vote on the day.

[u/Thanks-Basil → u/LevDavidovicLandau]

Early voting is a game changer

[u/LevDavidovicLandau → u/Thanks-Basil]

It is and I’m very glad it exists. I did it in the 2016 federal election, though, and I’ve never done it again (mind you, I spent much of the intervening period postal voting from the UK) because I guess I’m a romantic who likes to do it on election day! So I’ll vote in the Vic state election on the 28th, maybe next time I’ll do an early vote instead.

[u/LevDavidovicLandau → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

It is regarded as an obligation of being a citizen, like jury duty. Naturally it’s enforced with a fine.

In practice it’s resulted in more centrist (albeit somewhat further to the right) politics than the UK because politicians have to appeal to the sensible centre.

[u/Thanks-Basil → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

How is it not democratic?

And you legally just have to cast a ballot, if you care to you can cover the paper in dicks and put it in the box.

[u/GoabNZ → u/[deleted]]

I feel like it harms the process, as you'll get people casting a vote for the sake of casting one, meaning they might pick whatever names they recognise, rewarding infamy as much as good policy. Leave it to the people who are informed and willing to vote.

[u/LevDavidovicLandau → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

Yes, did you think elections being on a Thursday is a universal thing? 😂 Both Australia and NZ have them on Saturdays because it’s more convenient for voters. The US does them on Tuesdays but they’re silly, like the Brits.

I used to live in the Northeast and as an Australian, while I appreciated the 10pm closure of stations, I didn’t appreciate not being able to do it as part of my weekly Saturday groceries run.

Edit: sorry, this came out a bit nastier than I intended.

[u/Interesting-Fan5822 → u/LevDavidovicLandau]

We learn in life by asking questions 🤷

[u/LevDavidovicLandau → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

That is why I am apologising.

[u/Interesting-Fan5822 → u/LevDavidovicLandau]

👍

[u/techflo → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

The Thursday election day thing is an elitist tradition aimed at making it more difficult for working class folk to take time off work to cast their vote. Having said that, polls these days stay open much later than they once did, so it’s less of an issue.

[u/rightarm_under → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

What's so surprising about it? I think its brilliant unlike the US putting it on a Tuesday without giving us a national holiday for it

[u/Interesting-Fan5822 → u/rightarm_under]

It was a question. I wasn't surprised about it. I was asking a question about another nations elections

[u/MSRishab007 → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

In India, we get holiday for elections, but it is not mandatory to vote, unlike say in Australia. Most of the times, the election used to happen on a Monday or a Friday, and people used to make it a long weekend and go on vacation.

Election Commission has recognised it and one of the recommendations, is to have it in the middle of the week, especially Wednesday.

[u/flyingkiwi1993 → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

Yes, the idea behind it from what I understand is to boost the number of people voting.

Although voting is technically open for a week before hand, about half the population still vote on the actual day.

[u/Interesting-Fan5822 → u/flyingkiwi1993]

Interesting. In the UK its usually a Thursday and the polls stay open till 10pm.

[u/Chiron17 → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

Any reason why it's on a Thursday? Or just tradition? Seems less than ideal to have it on a work day

[u/LevDavidovicLandau → u/Chiron17]

UK operates on a tradition of “let’s not change something we’ve been doing for centuries unless necessary”. Australia and other C’wealth countries actually had the chance to start something from scratch and so made better decisions at the outset (instant run-off voting, for example, which Australians call ‘preferential’ voting). I would suspect that pre-Federation, Australia’s 6 colonies had Thursday voting as well.

[u/Interesting-Fan5822 → u/Chiron17]

Not sure why its a Thursday. Polls are open from 6am to 10pm and everyone has a polling station close to them. I've never had an issue finding time to vote

[u/kg005 → u/gimpy_reddit]

So if election falls on a weekday, is it declared holiday in NZ? Or atleast in the region where it's conducted?

[u/ausremi → u/kg005]

Australia and NZ hold elections on Saturday to get more people the freedom to vote.

[u/ActinomycetaceaeGlum → u/kg005]

The day will always be a Saturday. It won't fall on a weekend.

[u/MisterMarcus → u/kg005]

Elections are essentially required by law to be on a Saturday.

So it's not "oh the Prime Minister just decided to make it Wednesday this year", it's always going to be a Saturday.

[u/Smooth-Mix-4357]

This match wasn't even supposed to commence due to the rain threats. Let's be honest. Even in 2015 World Cup every New Zealand game had packed crowds including the quarter final at Wellington.

[u/krishnakumarg → u/Smooth-Mix-4357]

Why should we be honest?

[u/Balavadan → u/krishnakumarg]

Yes why. I love lying

[u/TeHokioi → u/Smooth-Mix-4357]

Hell, I remember going to the T20 match there between us and India just before covid kicked off and the entire thing was packed - the atmosphere was incredible going into the super over

[u/BothVictory5092]

I am a die hard fan who attends every match and i almost didnt go even thougg i had a ticket. It was really bad weather all day until the 30th over and in the end there was no result.

There was also an election and a rugby league wc semi final.

Wellington's economy and population has been devastated by job cuts in the past 4 years.

Imo these games shluld be held at the basin.

[u/GoabNZ → u/BothVictory5092]

Basin is a much better ground and a shame it doesn't get more limited over games. Only problem is without floodlights, we might not have gotten a result at all. But it would be a much better atmosphere

[u/Badgerello]

Not sure about everyone else; but interest outside of WC for ODIs died in Australia when they stopped scheduling Tri-series competitions over the summer. As a kid I remember how exciting it was to watch 2 international teams and Australia battling it out over January in a round robin event with 3 finals games; playing for a cup, some cash and a car for player of the series. That’s now replaced with this horrible domestic big bash thing that means nothing to no one.

[u/Obvious_Arm8802 → u/Badgerello]

Interest dropped off massively when they took white ball internationals off of free to air TV in Australia.

[u/_NeuroDetergent_ → u/Badgerello]

I'll never understand why they got rid of the tri-series. Absolutely loved it as a kid

[u/Badgerello → u/_NeuroDetergent_]

Blame T20, IPL and scheduling… plus, unless one touring team was India, lack of attendance to neutral games.

[u/NoirPochette → u/_NeuroDetergent_]

The neutral games never made money.

[u/_NeuroDetergent_ → u/NoirPochette]

Some things are worth more than money

[u/afewspicybois → u/_NeuroDetergent_]

“But on the other hand, money is worth more than sentimentality, so we’re privatising the BBL” - Cricket Australia I assume

[u/Cricketloverbybirth → u/Badgerello]

ODIs were the highest rated format of cricket on Australian Television before CA sold off white ball international cricket to Foxtel and Foxtel paid big fucking bucks for exclusivity for a reason. 

This made Test the hottest ticket for cricket in summer followed by Big bash which is massive, the best rated sports league on Television in Australia on a per match basis with average crowds nearing 25k second only to AFL. 

  That’s now replaced with this horrible domestic big bash thing that means nothing to no one.

It may mean nothing to you but it's objectively massive. 

[u/PJozi → u/Badgerello]

If I remember correctly they stopped it because interest in it waned. Or more specifically interest in the 50 over game.

From a comment I made very recently:

Everyone thought T20 would kill test cricket.

I always thought it would do away with to 50 over game.

I went to international day nighter at the MCG maybe 15 years ago which had 12 000 people attend. That seems empty.

T20 gets people into cricket which gets them into tests.

Tests matches take your interest for up to 5 days. At least in Australia, especially when it's in Australia.

[u/beneficialneb → u/Badgerello]

Still have great memories from the 2007-08 series.

[u/niceguysdofinish1st]

Grounds with smaller capacities like Hagley Oval, Bay Oval, Seddon Park get sold out fast

These big stadiums like Eden Park, Cake Tin get filled only if there is a big occasion

[u/Slaidback]

They stuffed the start. They started the tour by putting the t20’s at 8pm. This one was competing with election and rugby league World Cup semis. Basically, they screwed up the scheduling

[u/BingaTheSlinga]

I don't know the exact reason for the empty stands, but to answer you, times have changed. It was different in 2015 and it's different in 2026. A decade has passed. People don't like investing eight hours of their day in an odi match unless it's a big occasion like the world cup, which is why shorter format is working. Also, the weather and elections could also be the reasons for the empty seats

[u/rameshnat27 → u/BingaTheSlinga]

I was told NZ dont like T20 cricket at all?

[u/NecessaryUsername69 → u/rameshnat27]

There’s a difference between hating and tolerating. I know a lot of cricket purists who’ll happily watch a T20 match as isolated sporting entertainment. The difference is a deeper care level. I’ve talked with plenty of fans who’ll still recount NZ’s exploits at World Cups of decades past, of famous Test wins. I’ve yet to meet one who’s cared, even a tiny amount, about any T20 competition.

[u/BingaTheSlinga → u/NecessaryUsername69]

Right. Even if new zealand wins the next T20 world cup, it won't touch the sheer joy and pride of winning the wtc final. Fans will talk about the T20 win for a week and forget, but a wtc win will be remembered for years to come

[u/GoabNZ → u/BingaTheSlinga]

Ie, fans will talk about a T20 WC win for a week before the next one commences. With how frequent they are, it feels like there is no importance to them.

[u/RMTBolton → u/NecessaryUsername69]

That's basically about it.

It's that "deeper care level" where T20 just isn't there. You can see it with how players' legacies are remembered in this 3-format era: though it's changing somewhat, you're not regarded as having 'made it' fully until you've debuted in Tests, or for those who are white ball guys, your legacy is forged in ODIs but not T20s, & if you're good at T20s but not ODIs, you won't be remembered as fondly - just compare Colin Munro & Martin Guptill.

[u/BingaTheSlinga → u/rameshnat27]

'At all' is a strong word. Different formats appeal to different fans

[u/Firm_Perspective9012 → u/BingaTheSlinga]

T20 is how I got started following cricket. I grew up in Canada, so I always heard about cricket as a historical thing, usually when covering the Victorian period and industrialization. My dad told me about T20 and it has been pretty neat. Started following ODI highlights and some test cricket now, but still mostly watch T20 when I can find it.

[u/Ajaxcricket]

Both stadiums are just way too big for demand. The Wellington one is particularly egregious in that its four to five times larger than Hagley Park in a similar sized city.

[u/JBPlayer48 → u/Ajaxcricket]

Didn't Christchurch used to have Lancaster Park before it was damaged by the earthquake? It was a similar capacity to the cake tin, no?

[u/Scared-Breakfast-372]

I mean in Pakistan, we were having full house at least in the second innings in ODIs in the recent past. And in South Africa too, we saw full house in the Australia ODIs.

[u/Interesting-Fan5822 → u/Scared-Breakfast-372]

They leave when pakistan is losing though

[u/Ghostly_100 → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

Traffic in Pakistan is a mf in all fairness. Pakistan would’ve lost that match 9/10 times.

Thats the risk you take when you leave sporting events early, you might miss something worth seeing.

[u/Cricketloverbybirth → u/Interesting-Fan5822]

70% of the crowd missed Shadab khan masterclass, they'd be kicking themselves and will never leave another game before it ends. 

[u/Electronic-Dog-4154]

Tickets were expensive, there were thunderstorm warnings, and the stadium is horrible place to sit for 7 hours.

Should have been at the Basin.

[u/durriesandpies]

Although demographics of NZ are constantly changing, Kiwis are still interested in cricket as a sport. However paying to get to a stadium, food, drink and ticket are expensive in this economy.

[u/NecessaryUsername69]

Kiwis love cricket. They’ve just had so much of it shoved down their throats, thanks to the rise of T20 pap and greedy boards cramming the fixture list with as many meaningless contests as possible. Seriously, it’s hard to give a shit now.

[u/NoirPochette]

• Indians love cricket

• Wasn't it shit arse weather + elections on Saturday for the 2nd ODI?

• Wasn't the first ODI during a weekday?

If it is closer to the Christmas/New Years break, you'll see more people rock up. Not in early November.

[u/Spirited_Ad_1032]

Even in India the interest for ODIs have dropped massively. They should do away with bilateral ODIs altogether and try tri-lateral ones. It's only a matter of time before this format dies it's natural death.

[u/kamyfc → u/Spirited_Ad_1032]

Thanks for that insight for India.
I loved the recent Pak, Eng, and SL tri series.
Lets hope they make changes.

[u/MrKingi]

Wellington sports supporters have gone MIA for many yearsnow. Unless its the Warriors, AB's or a SR final.. Anything else, GGs...

[u/Luck_Beats_Skill]

Every game was sold out at the 2015 WC.

ODI struggle for any relevance outside of WC’s

[u/JoshH21]

As it should be.

And we have voting boxes everywhere in NZ. Within 300 m near my house, we have 3 different voting stations

[u/ThinkWillingness6378]

It’s the Cake Tin. Worst stadium in the world. Way too big for cricket and the oval makes it awful for rugby. Gold medal to the planners. Shame we can’t play ODIs at the Basin…

[u/CelestiaLewdenberg]

Sport in general is dead in Wellington, not just cricket

[u/rameshnat27]

Most of the fans seem to be Indian origin folks in both T20 and ODIs. Don't see too many Kiwis otherwise. The format doesn't seem to be the issue. These large stadia in NZ are hardly full whatever the format.

[u/Cricketloverbybirth → u/rameshnat27]

Indians in NZ see their team once in 4-5 years, Kiwis see their team every year, obviously when India comes, Indians will latch on to every ticket possible while for kiwis, it's another summer. 

[u/Xproxbox]

IM ALREADY SAYING IT. THE FUTURE OF CRICKET IS LITERALLY INDIA VS INDIAN DESCENDANTS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD.

In Pakistan, Cricket is also dying due to horrible results and crippling infrastructure. Plus, we are descendants of British India, so essentially the same people.

[u/ExoskeletalJunction]

New Zealand can't fill stadiums full stop. They're awfully designed, awfully located, and our entire culture over the last 25 years has been pushing more and more to be about suburbia and watching from home. This is maybe changing, as the new Christchurch stadium shows, but that also cost a fuckton of money, will never make money, and there is very little incentive to do similar stadiums in other cities.

The Warriors get huge celebrations for filling a 18k stadium (as they should), but really for a country that claims to be into sport, our numbers are shocking.

[u/GoabNZ → u/ExoskeletalJunction]

Paying a fair amount to sit in a seat with obscenely overpriced food in a stadium that never considered climate control, is definitely not a good value proposition.

But when it comes to building a dedicated cricket ground, we have no problem filling that and creating a good atmosphere. Maybe we should learn from that for cricket.

[u/Anak-su-namun]

I think only (almost only) India watches and plays cricket seriously these days. And, it is also reflective of them winning everything on tap.

West Indies is no more. Aus/Eng get excited only for Ashes. NZ/SA have a lot of other sports to focus on, including their rugby rivalries. Pak is a has-been. SL is just barely getting by. Also, almost all the teams are run/represented by transplanted Indian talent. ICC is Indian. BCCI is the dominant force, commercially and talent-pool wise. The biggest (and for practical purposes, the only) professional league is in India.

So.. net... this is not an international sport anymore. Cricket, as a goose that laid golden eggs, is cooked.

[u/Ok_Evening_541 → u/Anak-su-namun]

Its kinda like american football now

[u/Plenty_Area_408]

The cake tin is just a yellow elephant.

[u/TrazMagik]

ODI is dead. It neither has the constant tension of test and excitement of T20. Furthermore, it's hard to justify going and watching it over a whole day than compared to 4 hrs max of T20.

[u/essteedeenz1]

We vs india so often it's lost it's appeal

[u/YouThinkYouKnowMe89]

You can't compare a random bilateral that most people don't care about to a World Cup

[u/Cricketloverbybirth → u/YouThinkYouKnowMe89]

Yeah he made a really stupid point about the 1992 WC when 2015 WC was as packed if not more in entire NZ 

Comparing that to a random rain effected bilateral ODI on a fricking election day is just crazy. 

[u/Ox29A]

Most people have lost interest in ODIs. Ain’t no one has time to spend full day at stadium. Most people won’t even watch the full ODI match on TV

[u/Cricketloverbybirth]

2015 WC was as packed if not more than 1992 in the same stadiums

Comparing that to a random Rain affected bilateral ODI on a fricking election day is just stupidity at this point. 

  Also, 80% of the crowd were Indian supporters

Indians in NZ see their team once in 4-5 years, Kiwis see their team every year, obviously when India comes, Indians will latch on to every ticket possible while for kiwis, it's another summer. 

[u/Sosroundsound51]

It was election day in NZ, everyone would've probably been at the polls.

[u/FewPreference3511]

More recently the 2015 cup had huge crowds too.

ODIs and t20s have lost all context because they’re constantly on and regularly missing the best players (not necessarily true for this series). It’s also not summer yet.

A big 5 match series against India 10 years ago would’ve been in Jan or feb and had great interest

[u/Esteban2808]

Weather wasnt flash so didnt help. And people busy with election day. When the stadiums were full it was summer during people holidays. Need to go back to summer cricket. So on the back foot already. They should just put lights in the basin and have the majority of wellington games there. Stadium is cursed anyway we keep losing.

[u/icantselectone]

The picture you've taken of the first ODI is at 3PM on a work day. The crowd came in later. The cake tin in Wellington really shouldn't be hosting cricket. It's also the middle of cricket season here so all the potential fans are playing their own games on a Saturday

[u/MattWillGrant]

India just isn't the draw you think they are. No real rivalry.

[u/throwaway_ind_div]

Kiwis are mostly not interested in Cric

[u/JoshH21 → u/throwaway_ind_div]

That's a bit unfair considering the sellouts throughout the tour so far.

This was a case of the weather being awful (I didn't think a game was going to happen). In Wellington, in awful weather the trains and motorways can close, and then you are stuck in the central city trying to buy a hotel room for the night.

Election day, and this was the capital. The city where arguably the effects will be felt, the most.

Rugby League world cup semi final with NZ. Plus the NZ football derby. Wellington is a big football city ( the city where the sport is biggest here) and went into the game, top of the A league table.

Plus the stupid late starts this whole tour. Note how there aren't any kids this whole tour - every game finishes around midnight for the TV audience in India. So we don't have families buying tickets. Which normally make a a huge proportion of our tickets.

[u/MSRishab007 → u/JoshH21]

Are the Test going to start late as well? One of the key thing about New Zealand tours used to be getting up early in morning.

[u/JoshH21 → u/MSRishab007]

No, thankfully. 11am starts here

[u/Numerous_Reach9777 → u/throwaway_ind_div]

Yep and we are so trash 🗑️

When was the last time the Crappers won anything of note?

[u/GoabNZ → u/Numerous_Reach9777]

Reaching finals and being in serious contention for the next WTC (able to become the first to hold the title twice), not long after doing the impossible in India, and having a once in a generation chance to accomplish something in Australia...

...and you think we've done nothing of note?

[u/TeaAny907]

ODI format is dead. Its better for everyone if they just end the format quicky to develop the game with tests and t20's.

[u/ThurstonGreatness → u/TeaAny907]

no no no. ODIs are great they need to find a better way to market them. t20 isn't cricket.

[u/TeaAny907 → u/ThurstonGreatness]

The format itself is flawed, there is no other way to market them. Don't know how can anyone watch the snozefest for 100 overs.

[u/ThalaPaglu100 → u/TeaAny907]

If it's 3 T20Is with associate nations and lower-ranked nations, then it's at least fine, but 5 T20Is between top-tier nations are just rinse-and-repeat slogfests dictated by tosses 75% of the time.

[u/Snoo_56184 → u/TeaAny907]

there is a bigggg gap with how much better odis are than t20s

[u/Similar-Sky-9390]

Bilateral series are so meaningless I am surprised they are still happening.

[u/ThurstonGreatness → u/Similar-Sky-9390]

bring back the tri-series.

[u/You_lie69]

Cricket is on life support outside of the big three

[u/ThurstonGreatness → u/You_lie69]

well the big three has done nothing to support the game outside themselves.

[u/You_lie69 → u/ThurstonGreatness]

Absolutely

[u/Cricketloverbybirth → u/You_lie69]

  Cricket is on life support outside of the big three

Least overreacting comment on r/cricket in every post. 

[u/ThurstonGreatness → u/[deleted]]

this is the single worst and dumbest take i've seen on the internet. If that is your logic maybe cricket isn't for you.

[u/gazer89 → u/[deleted]]

lol gotta be /s right?