‘Lost our love of it’: Australia divided by ‘pathetic’ Test crowd as cricket debate reignites

Debate has erupted over “deplorable” scenes that beg an uncomfortable question about Australia’s love of our national game.

Is Test cricket in crisis? What’s the truth behind poor crowds? Are Aussies just sick of winning?

Australia kicked off the summer of cricket with a dominant 360-run win over Pakistan in the first Test in Perth, but fans could be forgiven for not waking from their silly season slumber to care.

Nathan Lyon claimed his 500th Test wicket, David Warner’s century shushed his critics and this experienced Australian team cantered to another comfortable victory at home.

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But a major talking point was the sparse crowd at Perth’s 60,0000-capacity Optus Stadium, with only a sprinkling of spectators across the grey seats.

The opening day drew a crowd of 16,259, peaking on Day 2 with 17,666 fans to finish with a total attendance of 59,125 at an average of 14,781 over the four days.

Those sorts of crowds would have come close to filling the WACA, which has a capacity of 18,000 but hasn’t hosted a Test since 2017 and recently started work on a $154.7 million redevelopment.

Perth had poor crowds for last summer’s Test against the West Indies, but this time around the match was rebranded as ‘the West Test’ and Cricket Australia made a concerted effort to promote the game in Western Australia.

The sparse crowd at Perth Stadium. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Crowd shot, or an insight into Australia’s waning interest in Test cricket? (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

This year’s crowd figures were an improvement on last time around, with the Day 1 attendance trumpeted as record for a day of Test cricket against Pakistan in West Australian history.

That cherrypicked stat and the sight of Lyon going into the record books in front of a grey canvas of empty seats left many cricket fans frustrated about Perth crowds.

Sam Edmund said on SEN: “How many come each week to watch the (West Coast) Eagles get pumped? It’d be 40,000 plus. Yet we can’t get our West Australian friends interested in watching Test cricket in their own backyard.”

Former Australian player Simon O’Donnell said: “Their attendance is deplorable.”

ABC sports journalist Catherine Murphy tweeted: “Just turned on the cricket….4 wickets and about 4 people in the stands…. What’s going ON in Perth?!!”

Cricket journalist Dan Brettig wrote in The Age: “It is hard to escape the sense that Test cricket against anyone other than England and India is very much on trial in Australia.”

Opinion among fans was divided, with many sticking up for Perth considering the Test began on a weekday before school holidays.

IMO Test Cricket in Australia is in crisis. Crowd for test at Perth was pathetic. You know what’s coming before it happens. The jeopardy is almost non existent. Most teams don’t prepare properly to play in Australia and end up battered. If Aus forced follow on…#AUSvPAK

— Lee Addison (@mrleeaddison) December 17, 2023

Just another incredibly poor crowd at perth. Can't believe Adelaide oval get west indies again and not even a day night test. Just to get bums on seats in Perth. And backfired miserably. Nathan Lyon is on the verge of 500 wickets. just Pathetic by Perth. #AUSvPAK

— coach Lucas (@lucasr15sky) December 17, 2023

Perth crowd is really pathetic. Don’t allow them the first test ever again

— Angus Walker (@gusbuster40) December 17, 2023

Population of Perth ~2m. Optus Stadium = 60k capacity. Roughly 3% of Perth pop to sell out. So we’d be asking the equivalent to be 150k attendance per day in Syd/Melb. 300k in London. 600k in Mumbai. I reckon Perth’s going ok?

— Ian Higgins (@1an_Higgins) December 17, 2023

like a very empty 60k stadium makes us look bad but the same numbers at the waca would actually seem somewhat normal. but also it’s like 35° who even wants to watch cricket and get heatstroke today tbh

— keisha (@fyfesflyers) December 16, 2023

The obsession with Eastern States fans over WA’s attendance numbers is bizarre.

They can take their mid-working-week, pre Christmas test off of Perth and we will take the Boxing Day or NY test. See how the crowd numbers go.

— Elliott - re📕the 🚌 (@flagmantlefc) December 17, 2023

Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said the crowd figures were “on the right trajectory”.

“It has been tough over here in the west,” Hockley told SEN.

“We couldn’t play international cricket here for a couple of years. We’ve really worked with WA Cricket, the tourism board with all our partners — I’m overlooking the NRMA Insurance hill recreating the WACA ground.

“We’ve thrown absolutely everything behind it.

“We’ve obviously got a fantastic program with India here for five Tests next year and into a return Ashes at home. We expect it (Perth crowds) to go from strength to strength.”

The relatively small crowds in Perth will renew calls for Canberra to host a Test match at Manuka Oval for the first time since 2019.

Who said Test cricket is dead. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

The fans who went enjoyed themselves. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Is Australia’s interest in cricket waning?

As for the cricket on the pitch, home series against Pakistan and the West Indies make it hard for Aussie fans to get their juices going.

Mark Waugh said on Fox Cricket: “Australia’s going to be awfully hard to beat this summer in every game they play.”

As is often the case in sport, the narratives are about ‘what’s next’. Who will replace Warner? How big a void will Nathan Lyon leave once he retires? Where are our next gun batsmen?

Warner’s century ensured he will get a farewell SCG Test after all, but there’s a sense selectors may have missed a trick by not blooding a new opener against weaker opposition to prepare them for tough series against England and India.

But Ian Higgins, co-host of The Grade Cricketer podcast wrote on social media that Aussie fans need to live in the moment and appreciate just how good this current Australian team really is.

Australia about to win a dominant test match at home. Main stories:

- Warner shouldn’t be there
- Khawaja wrote a thing on his shoes
- Poor/record crowd attendance
- Carey almost did a questionable thing
- No runs for Marnus in a while
- Time for Lance Morris?

— Ian Higgins (@1an_Higgins) December 17, 2023

He added: “Obviously as fans, you should question things because you want to win forever.

“It’s just funny that this is probably the best team we’ll have for a long, long time and it often feels like these are the most useless pricks to ever wear the baggy green.”

Fox Cricket commentator Kerry O’Keeffe believes Australia’s interest in cricket is slowly waning and the footy codes increase their stranglehold on the news cycle all year round.

“I don’t want to be talking about (wantaway Warriors forward) Addin Fonua-Blake in November, it’s driving me nuts,” O’Keeffe told SEN last week.

“When I hear sports talkback people on other stations…it’s early November and they say, ‘Oh, I can’t wait for Round 1 of the NRL’, please… give yourself an uppercut, what is going on?

“We’ve deep down lost our love of it (cricket). It should be propagated by people in the media. I don’t care if it’s seen as our national sport or not (but) the nations that rise in cricket are the ones that are absolutely passionate about the game.

Enjoy the GOAT and co while we can. (Photo by James Worsfold - CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)

The rebranded hill tries to recreate the WACA. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

“India for a start, they’re the juggernaut and we’re talking about Addin Fonua-Blake and where he might go in 2027, please. Will the Dragons get the spoon? Who cares in November?Who cares in March? Come on.”

The magic formula for big crowds seems to be: high stakes games, a close series, strong opposition but an even stronger Australian team. It’s why interest in this year’s Ashes series was so high.

But let’s be honest, an Australian 3-2 triumph would have been so much better than ‘retaining’ the Ashes.

India have beaten Australia in the last two tours Down Under and the last time Australia won a close Test series at home was in the late 2000s against South Africa and India.

England haven’t won a Test match in Australia since 2011.

Australia will play New Zealand in a two-match Test series across the ditch in March that will hopefully be more competitive. New Zealand’s 2026-27 tour of Australia will be expanded to four Tests.

The attritional grind of Test cricket isn’t exactly compatible with the TikTok era of 30-second recap clips that we live in.

But let’s appreciate this generational Australian team before Test cricket is gone for good.