Brian Lara has vented his frustration at the lack of support WestIndies have received over the past two days of their contest againstAustralia
Andrew Miller in Antigua28-Mar-2007
Shivnarine Chanderpaul was lbw to Shaun Tait, but there were only a small number of people at the ground to see it © AFP
Brian Lara has vented his frustration at the lack of support WestIndies have received over the past two days of their contest againstAustralia at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. In a match that ought to have been the plum draw of the Super Eights- an inaugural fixture at a brand-new venue against the reigningworld champions – a pitiful crowd was in attendance.Despite localsuggestions the match had been a sell-out, the 20,000-capacityground was barely half-full for the first rain-affected day, withperhaps half that many when the sun came out for West Indies’run-chase. “It’s very disappointing,” Lara said. “You’d back yourself to thinkthat at least every single game that West Indies plays is going to bea full house. We were received very well in Jamaica, where we got agood crowd against Pakistan and Ireland, but I thought I would be ableto close my eyes here, and for the rest of the tournament, and justsee our people come out and support the World Cup and support WestIndies.”The attendance figures don’t square with local anticipation of the match. One disgruntled fan suggested that the fault lay with the local organising committee, whose marketing of the game had fallen way short of what was required for such a big occasion. “There’s noculture of buying [tickets] online in the Caribbean,” he told. “Instead there were queues around the block for the fewkiosks at the ground, and everyone assumed the seats would have gone.”Stephen Price, the tournament’s commercial director, told 11,100 tickets had been bought in advance for this game, and a further 700 on the morning of the match. He denied that the pricing or the marketing strategy had been at fault for the poor attendance, but added that plans were in place to distribute the spare tickets to local schools and tournament sponsors. They were unlikely, however, to be implemented in time for Thursday’s match against New Zealand.”Centres in each of the territories put tickets on sale at the same time as they went online,” Price said. “We also utilised a global network of 50-plus agents. Tickets were easily accessible, and with a significant amount of entry-level prices, starting at US$25, which is the equivalent to a category two ticket in a regular bilateral series. But in some cases, the fans have not attended.”Price said there had been an attempt to change the Caribbean culture into one that buys early instead of leaving everything to the last minute. “Tickets went on sale ten months ago,” he said. “For a normal bilateral series, they would go on sale two weeks in advance. But there have been the same number of kiosks as ever. The queues may have been long in the late evening, but in the early morning they were empty. People could have come out at lunchtime, or in their own time. To claim otherwise is just an excuse.” The infrastructure is good, so now it’stime for the manpower The commentator Mark Nicholas was disappointed the match was not a sell-out and said the locals were frustrated by the long queues. “A lot of them gave up and said ‘no, I’m not prepared to wait two hours’,” he said. “It’s been one of the problems confronting spectators. The huge amount of security, that’s one thing, the other is the long lines for tickets and long lines for food.”Nicholas said the remoteness of the site – “you can only park a mile away despite huge areas all around” – was a problem when comparing it to the previous venue. “The old ground was in the middle of St John’s and it was very popular,” he said. “There was a great party feel to the place, but it’s going to be very difficult to rekindle that here.”The controversy dampened an occasion that oughtto have been a proud moment for West Indies and for Antigua. “It’s avery good stadium, it’s beautiful and it’s a tribute to the man, SirVivian Richards,” Lara said. “It’s been an awesome effort by theAntiguan people getting this ready, and it’s going to be wonderful forWest Indian cricket moving on. The infrastructure is good, so now it’stime for the manpower.”Not everyone was impressed with the positioning of the new ground. Built on a greenfields site 20 minutes outside of St John’s,many fans had to walk for several kilometres to reach the entrance, or pay for a shuttle service. An impassioned West Indian supportertold a local TV station that it was the spectator’s right to expect tobe able to park outside a new and purpose-built ground, while otherscomplained that the spontaneity that had existed at the old AntiguaRecreation Ground was missing from the new venue.But Lara said there would have to be a change of attitudes allaround as West Indian cricket gets used to its new era. “When you’retalking about the improvement of facilities the spectators also haveto adapt,” he said. “It’s not enough to be able to stay in the sameareas or stadiums just because the atmosphere was great. We’ve hadsome wonderful times at the ARG, but now we move on to the Sir Vivstadium and it is something to be proud of over the years.”Some of these stadiums were dilapidated. Georgetown andother grounds have been around for donkey’s years. I’m sure peoplewill adjust. I may have been disappointed with the crowd today but Ithought the party stand wasn’t bad here or in Jamaica. People aregoing to enjoy it, and I think the cricketers are very happy that wehave facilities that are second-to-none. If you go to the MCG orLord’s the facilities are great. It’s nice to know we are gettingthere.”