This time, two years ago, England were preparing for an eagerly anticipated home Ashes test series. Cardiff was controversially chosen as the venue for the 1st test ahead of the traditional scene for the opening match, the home of cricket, Lords. There was much debate surrounding the decision, with many ex-players, current players and officials voicing their displeasure of The Swalec Stadium being awarded its first test match. Legendary Aussie spinner Shane Warne claimed that the decision to play the opener at Sophia Gardens was a ‘disgrace’ and the venue wouldn’t generate excitement. Sir Ian Botham and Nasser Hussain, too, questioned the credibility of the decision to bestow Wales with their first ever test match experience. The reason the England and Wales Cricket Board chose to make this high profile decision is known only to those who made it. It could well have been to try give England a winning start to the series given the Australians’ poor record at Sophia Gardens having lost to Bangladesh there in 2005. That, coupled with England’s awful track record against the old enemy at Lords. Before 2009, England hadn’t beaten Australia for 75 years which may have added to the reasons to hold the inaugural match of the series.
All these questions and queries, however, were completely blown out of the water when Cardiff hosted one of the great survivals in cricketing history. Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar played centre stage on the sold
out fifth day, holding on for 40 minutes to force a draw when an Australian victory seemed imminent. The match was an undoubted success and Cardiff had held its own as a venue despite the sceptics’ constant chuntering. Sophia Gardens was hailed as a 1st class test venue and all the doubters had been silenced.Two years on, and the doubters and sceptics seem to have been proved right. Cardiff’s second test was always going to be a tough follow up to the Goliath-proportioned 2009 package. The comparatively David-proportioned Sri Lankan match proved to be just that, somewhat insignificant. Whereas David prospered in the fable, this time he fought rather pathetically for 5 days punching and kicking at Goliath’s ankle until he eventually collapsed into a damp, lifeless heap and rolled into the Taff.
The sad thing is, the fifth and final day
against the Sri Lankans provided the audience with one of the best days of cricket in living memory. Andrew Strauss declared with England’s first innings score on 496-5 and the Sri Lankans slumped to 82 all out in their second innings to hand England the most unlikely of victories. The reason that it was such a sorry day for Welsh cricket in particular was that these phenomenal, once-in-a-lifetime scenes were only witnessed by 922 people inside the 15,000+ stadium.The first test match at the Swalec Stadium saw Glamorgan make a healthy 7-figure profit when England played out a draw against the Australians. Their most recent venture into the world of test cricket was a considerably tamer affair. The Welsh county are still paying back the £2.5m to the ECB that they bid in order to host the game. Unsurprisingly, the county recorded a sizeable loss during the 5 days of over £1m due to their hapless ability to sell the test to the Welsh public. This has added to their inability to pay their way and has cost them the right to host the 2012 test match against the West Indies.
There are many factors as to why the stadium was packed so sparsely throughout the test. The weather was typically atrocious, the Sri Lankans aren’t deemed as an attractive side to go and watch (and the majority of their batsmen’s strike rates justified that) and those that had been to the Ashes test match greeted this one with the mentality of ‘been there, done that’. Truthfully, the underlying factor is that Glamorgan as a county is so poorly followed that they don’t have a regular stream of bodies coming through the turnstiles. These home fans would usually make up the majority of the numbers at international matches, but there aren’t any. Somerset fill their ground at Taunton on every occasion. 8,000 packed into the modest arena which creates an atmosphere that would drag people back and this is even at £25 a ticket. Glamorgan are lucky to get a thousand in their ground, and with an ocean of empty blue seats making up the rest of the audience, the sight is nothing short of embarrassing.
In a strange way, it’s a good thing that the test match has been stripped from the county. Why? Because it will force the county to look at their own team and fixtures to generate revenue. In recent years, Glamorgan’s pedigree has been seriously questioned and with every justification. Their Cardiff City-esque finish to last season’s county championship season meant another season playing against Gloucestershire and Derbyshire (their fellow slagheap teams). Glamorgan’s one-day game is laughable achieving absolutely nothing and playing some dreadful cricket along the way.
Charging £20 to see a t20 game at Sophia Gardens is nothing short of insulting. The team haven’t come close to the quarter finals of the t20 competition since reaching finals day in 2004 and that year was their last one-day success under Robert Croft. Everybody knows that success breeds followers and whereas there will always be a small minority that will follow a team through thick and thin, in order to drag the fence-sitters in, they need to be successful.
During the off-season, the decision makers at the Swalec made intrepid and gallant changes to the setup which saw both Maynard’s and skipper Jamie Dalrymple leave South Wales. Under Matthew Mott and new skipper Alviro Petersen, not much has changed. They are mid-table in the county championship and are typically way off the pace in the shorter form of the game.
It’s impossible to change things now, but they must look to the 2012 season and they must breed some success. Glamorgan should identify where they are likely to be able to be successful, target and concentrate on it. Additionally, the recruitment team will have to work overdrive to bring in at least one big name. This will help on the field bringing some much needed quality to a dithering team as well as putting some bums on seats.
Although Wales have invested heavily in order to host test matches, it’s vital that these events don’t provide the money that balances the books. They should be an added bonus. The bread and butter of the county game should be the home Glamorgan matches and hopefully this forced shift of impetus will see an improvement in the cricket played in Wales which in turn will produce some company in the stands for the hardened fans that brave the elements to watch the Dragons.
