I attended Test cricket this week to see Australia play India at Adelaide Oval. It was my first time at a game since October 2005 when Australia played the ICC World XI at the SCG.
As far as I know, that game is considered a Test for statistical purposes.
Adelaide Oval on the first day of the Test match between Australia and India, viewed from the Bradman Stand.
I also saw Zimbabwe play Australia at the SCG, but most of my Test match viewing has been at the MCG.
I’ve been to the Adelaide Oval for T20 state games, but this was my first time for international cricket. I went with young Michael, who was seeing his first day of Test cricket, aged 15, although he has been to an ODI game previously at the MCG.
Adelaide Oval is considered by many to be the most beautiful ground in the world, but from pictures I’ve seen, surely Newlands in Cape Town carries that mantle.
That said, Adelaide is a terrific place to watch cricket.
We sat in the Bradman Stand, out of the scorching sun, with a good view down the wicket. My father always watched cricket from “behind the bowler’s arm”, paying for premium seats in the old Southern Stand at the MCG.
He went to the cricket with a pair of binoculars, which were pretty handy in the days before big-screen replays.
The Bradman Stand is a strange construction, mainly designed I believe for corporate boxes. There seems to be a lot of wasted space and the actual room for ordinary spectators is fairly limited. The stand is being knocked down as part of the redevelopment, which will increase official capacity from around 32,000 to 50,000.
The total crowd on Tuesday was 20,000, about 6000 less than at the Big Bash game I went to in December. It was a good roll-up though considering the 36-degree heat.
Test cricket demographics
What struck me most about the crowd was how old most people were and how the vast majority were men.
Maybe the demographics were different in the Chappell Stand or on the hill, but in my area at least I felt young at 45.
I understand that’s pretty much the case for Test cricket; that most followers are men aged over 30. Hence the marketers are investing so much in the Big Bash to attract younger fans and women.
At the Big Bash though, spectators don’t clap the umpires out for the start of play; they don’t applaud any scoring shots by the opposition and they’re only interested in fours and sixes.
At Test cricket, spectators know when partnership milestones are reached and they show appreciation of good skills by visiting players. Those things are surely taught by elders and happily my son was monitoring partnerships.
I prefer Test cricket, which confirms the marketing stereotype, I guess.
As for the actual play, we saw more than 300 runs scored in a day and twin centuries by Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting, so no complaints about the entertainment value.
I’ve criticised the captaincy of Clarke and Ponting before, but their batting is top notch.
I can’t say the same for India’s attack though. They looked very ordinary after the first session, apart from Zaheer Khan.
