Australia’s unceremonial dumping from the Twenty20 World Cup by England may have damaged home pride but it hasn’t hurt the tournament.
International white ball cricket in Australia is now the domain of the South Asian diaspora, dominated by India.
Traditional Australian cricket followers have been recovering from the AFL and Rugby League seasons and trying to pick winners during the Spring Carnival of horse racing. That was confirmed when Australia’s last match for the tournament, against Afghanistan in Adelaide on Friday night, was the first to rate over a million viewers, combining the Channel Nine and Fox audiences.
Steve Smith of Australia out LBW for four runs bowled by Naveenulhaq Murid of Afghanistan.Credit:
The cricket season doesn’t really start in Australia until the Melbourne Cup is run and won.
However, South Asian cricket fans have been buying thousands upon thousands of tickets to celebrate their teams during the T20 World Cup.
That has been highlighted again with the sellout of the India v Zimbabwe game at the MCG on Sunday night, with almost 90,000 expected.
It follows the sellout of the amazing India v Pakistan game at the MCG on the second day of the tournament proper, when more than 90,000 fronted up. The International Cricket Council claims that public tickets for the match sold out in five minutes.
It was the third-highest cricket attendance at the MCG behind a record 93,013 at the 2015 World Cup Final between Australia and New Zealand and 91,112 on Boxing Day 2013 for the Ashes.
Indeed, public tickets sold out for the India v South Africa game at Perth Stadium in a double header with Pakistan and the Netherlands, and the India v Netherlands match at the SCG in a double header with South Africa and Bangladesh.
In fact, of their five group matches, the only Indian game that did not sell out was their clash with Bangladesh in Adelaide as a part of a double header with Zimbabwe and the Netherlands, when more than 29,000 turned up.
The Pakistan v South Africa match at the SCG also sold out and more than 24,000 exited fans were at the same venue on Saturday night for England v Sri Lanka despite the Victor Trumper stand being closed along with a Centennial Park car park.
The Bureau of Statistics claims that Indians make up just three percent of Australia’s population, although Indian-Australians are expected to overtake those of British heritage as Australia’s dominant migrant group in the next five years.
Of the 750,000 tickets likely to be sold for the tournament, half are expected to be bought by South Asian fans.
It’s good timing for the all-powerful BCCI, with its delegation led by secretary and ICC board member Jay Shah to arrive in Melbourne for Sunday’s sold-out Zimbabwe match, the tournament semis and final.
Shah and company are not just in Australia to watch cricket: there are ICC meetings Friday, Saturday and Sunday, including the election of the governing body’s chair – likely to see Greg Barclay keep his post for another two years.
There will also be discussions around overseas T20 leagues and the big question of how the latest ICC broadcast rights deal, worth more than US$3 billion over four years, will be distributed among the members, given India is responsible for generating most of it.
The delegation will be comforted by a sea of blue as the overwhelming of majority of fans don the Indian team colours.
It’s no surprise then that India are part of a cricket crowd record in Sydney that is unlikely to be beaten.
The first international cricket match ever played at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium proved a stunning success, breaking the NSW record for the largest crowd to watch a single day’s play of international cricket.
The T20 match between Australia and India attracted a crowd of 59 659, breaking the previous record of 58,446 set almost a century ago when Australia and England played at the SCG on 15 December 1928.
The successful experiment proved short-lived, when all international cricket was moved back to the SCG on a long-term deal.
For all it’s great and glorious Ashes heritage as an Anglo-Australian pastime, cricket is now overwhelmingly a South Asian game, and the sport has become far more vibrant as a result.
Imagine if India make the T20 World Cup final at the MCG next Sunday. Some tickets still remain but if India continue to advance, history suggests they won’t last long.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
