Attendance for Tests a global concern

The disappointing numbers were for the first Test between the two teams in South Africa since the infamous sandpaper scandal in 2018, which saw Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft serve long suspensions on ball-tampering charges. It was also the first Test between Australia and South Africa since the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) final, when the Proteas upset the holders for their first major ICC title in more than a quarter of a century.

With every match crucial as the race for the WTC final enters its final stages, even the larger context around it didn’t prompt many to head to the game. Many reasons were offered for the low numbers coming through the turnstiles for the game which saw gripping, high-quality cricket over its entire duration. High cost of attendance, poor timing of the series, weather eating into playing time, and unrest in the country were some of them.

But dwindling attendance figures has been a worldwide malaise for quite some time now and only matches in Australia and England attract larger numbers – that too mostly for games involving the Big Three (India being one of them). Five days is a long time and being emotionally, and financially, invested in a game for such a duration is quite a job. The Durban Test was the first one in South Africa since they became world champions in the format, so even recent success wasn’t enough to attract a large crowd.

Innovations like day-night Tests have been tried, but they haven’t proved successful everywhere. The long-term financial viability of Test cricket is often discussed in concerning tones, with predictions that the format may soon be restricted to just a few countries able to afford it. Global phenomenon In India too, T20 cricket – and the Indian Premier League (IPL) in particular – has seen much bigger crowds.

Even the 50-over format has suffered, and more obituaries are written for it than they are for Test cricket. It’s often referred to as the problem middle child which neither has the century and a half of history behind it nor the glitz, glamour, easy pull and convenient duration of the 20-over format. If even India finds it difficult to get people into a stadium, what hope do countries like South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have?

There are more pressing demands on people’s time and finances than sport, so access needs to be made easier. If people are more willing to spend on T20 cricket, then maybe the pricing needs to take that in consideration. After all, those who can pay often do so for a music concert or a day out at an amusement park or a mall. Timing of games is another factor that needs to be taken into consideration.

The second South Africa-Australia Test starts today, and will hence not see more than one day of weekend cricket. The third match in Cape Town starts on a Tuesday and will continue into the weekend only if it goes into its fifth day. Better scheduling may have helped matters. The series coincides with the school and university exams in South Africa. Also, it falls outside the traditional November-March window for home Tests.

That prime slot has, of late, been taken by the SA20 domestic league and with the IPL often beginning in March itself, Test cricket has been asked to bear the brunt of balance sheet pressure. It’s not that people have stopped caring about Test cricket. It’s just become a lot more demanding in the modern context, especially with the administrators and broadcasters being more enamoured with the white-ball formats.

Other factors India will soon embark on a three-format tour of New Zealand with the two Tests in Wellington and Christchurch going a long way in deciding whether they will have any hope of making the WTC final going into the next year. But rest assured, it will be the preceding T20I and ODI series that will capture the imagination of the casual fans more. Granted, the start timings of 3.30 am in India will make it uncomfortable to wake up when winter starts creeping in, compared to the T20s beginning at 12.30 in the afternoon.

But only die-hard Test cricket fans are likely to consider the heightened stakes and get up. India’s last assignment in the current WTC cycle is a five-Test home series against Australia, always a marquee engagement. But apart from the opening fixture in Chennai, the other four venues – Nagpur, Guwahati, Ranchi and Ahmedabad – either don’t have a rich Test history or are so far from the main city itself to make it difficult for spectators to commute.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) claims to allocate Tests on a rotation basis, but Guwahati and Ahmedabad will be hosting two Tests in the ongoing cycle while centres like Mumbai and Bengaluru missed out completely. Power equations seem to dictate scheduling more than cricketing factors and convenience of spectators. As far as South Africa is concerned, they have two home Tests against Bangladesh starting a fortnight after the Australia series.

But they will hope to have better attendance when Joe Root’s England come calling for three Tests in December and January. Attendances are likely to be boosted by travelling supporters from Britain. The Barmy Army may have a big role in keeping Test cricket alive. Johannesburg could be expected to attract a sizable crowd while the Boxing Day Test in Centurion and the New Year’s Test in Cape Town may be more popular propositions.