LONDON: The England and Wales Cricket Board are confident crowds will pick up for the remainder of the international summer.
England’s victory over Pakistan in Tuesday night’s second Twenty20 international was played in front of a sparse crowd of just 5,821 at Cardiff’s SWALEC Stadium. It was England’s lowest attendance for a T20 international on home soil and came two days after the first match of the series at the same venue also failed to sell out.
But an ECB spokesman said: “The sales for the next few matches at Durham and Headingley are strong, they are expecting close to capacity. We always review how international matches perform and I am sure we will look at how our games have performed right across the season rather than focusing on one individual match.”
Glamorgan feel they have had little luck in the timing of the games. Their back-to-back clashes between the past two world Twenty20 champions presented a great opportunity which, due to external forces like the spot-fixing allegations, they have been unable to maximise.
Glamorgan chief executive Alan Hamer said: “Everyone has been aware of the allegations in the papers.
“The number of tickets we sold from the day the story broke through to the conclusion of Tuesday’s match was minimal. That is pretty disappointing and the club can’t hide from that.
“There were people who bought tickets who didn’t come and there were only about 100 Pakistan supporters in the ground. We were expecting about 5,000. I think Edgbaston sold the majority of their tickets for the games involving Pakistan in the week leading up to the games. After speaking to the Pakistan community here we were expecting the same, and a large late walk-up. It is part of their culture.
“We had a high number of sales staff but every day, without fail, they were sat there twiddling their thumbs.
“We were also not helped by a number of high-profile former players saying the tour should be cancelled and supporters were right to be cynical about what they saw.
“It is disappointing for what should have been two full houses that outside events have overshadowed it.
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