Starting too early in the week and too early in the day, Perth’s first Test match in three years was scheduled with the size of the broadcast audience as its top priority.
That’s the frank explanation of Cricket Australia’s head of operations and scheduling Peter Roach, around a game that has attracted thin crowds – albeit within the range of attendances drawn by the West Indies in recent history – and been overshadowed elsewhere by the Socceroos’ memorable World Cup campaign in Qatar.
Marnus Labuschagne’s double century was witnessed by sparse crowds in Perth.Credit:AP
An attendance of 10,929 on day one was considered reasonable given the Wednesday start time.
Roach said that given the complications of scheduling a Test after the Twenty20 World Cup, as one of four matches in five weeks in the run-up to Melbourne’s immovable Boxing Day, the midweek fixture was part of dual prime-time Tests for the east coast, to be followed by the day/night match in Adelaide.
“Our ideal days to start the first Tests of the summer would be Thursday and Friday, that would be our ideal plan,” Roach told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. “But as it turns, that’s not always possible. This was a year where it wasn’t possible.
“Starting on a Wednesday in Perth, while it has some challenges for attendance, it also allows a great portion of the country to watch it in some prime time, so we think that’s a real advantage for having a Test match, where it falls, the weekdays aren’t as bad as other days out of the school holidays as other parts of the country.
“From an engagement and eyeballs point of view, our first two Tests will be pretty significant being in prime time back to some of the major markets on the east coast. Scheduling is always a balancing act.”
The broadcast audience for day one of the series, drawn across Foxtel, Kayo streaming and the free-to-air rights holder Seven, stood at around 800,000 in total. The Ashes Tests last summer drew audiences of more than 1 million.
In addition to the Wednesday start, the timing of the first ball at 10.20am Perth time also made it difficult for locals to work or attend school and then come into the stadium for a decent portion of play in early afternoon and evening.
Senior cricket sources told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald this was largely to do with the design of the stadium and the lengthening shadows that affect the players’ ability to see clearly.
Once the sun dips below the stadium canopy, there is a risk of losing play to bad light before the venue’s lights can take proper effect, particularly on overcast days.
CA’s chief executive, Nick Hockley, said on Thursday that crowds for the first two days of the Test underlined why it was vital to schedule matches on days and in time slots where the most spectators possible would find reasons to turn up.
“I think going forward, making sure as many people can come as possible is our absolute priority and certainly it gives people more of a chance to come,” Hockley told SEN Radio. “There’s no lack of interest. [But] it does come down to slightly less than perfect scheduling.
“There are a number of factors. We had the T20 World Cup postponed by two years coming in, so it’s meant we’ve had a very compressed schedule throughout this summer and a lot more content. I think starting on a Wednesday is probably not the best, it’s a very busy time, people at school, people at work. But really hope the crowd builds towards the weekend.“
Hockley effectively ruled out the return of Test cricket to the WACA Ground, which is currently undergoing a redevelopment to a boutique venue with a capacity of up to 15,000.
“Our aim is we’d love to see this stadium rocking for international cricket of all forms,” he said.
“Going forward that [WACA] project is really taking shape and it just gives so much more flexibility.
“But the plan is certainly for men’s international cricket, for our big events like a fantastic WBBL final a couple years ago and then for the BBL, is we really want to see Perth Stadium rocking.”
