Former Australian captain Steve Waugh laments the hectic schedule, saying “the public has virtually overdosed on cricket.” In reference to the Australian team’s busy schedule this season, he claimed that it has become extremely challenging for spectators to keep up with the games. Only three days after the T20 World Cup final, the winners England and Australia squared off in a meaningless ODI series in Australia, prompting many to criticise Cricket Australia (CA) for the way it planned the men’s team’s games.
Unsurprisingly, there wasn’t much of a turnout. “There’s a lot of cricket it’s hard to follow, as a spectator its very hard to keep up with it. (The) three one-dayers against England seemed a bit insignificant really, I mean what were they playing for? There wasn’t a big crowd, I think the public has almost overdosed on cricket,” said Waugh on SEN’s Saturday Morning Mowers Club show.
The average attendance for five of Australia’s Super 12 games was only 37,565, despite the fact that they were the hosts and the defending champions going into the most recent T20 World Cup. It includes the MCG game versus England that was called off. “You want the special series to be iconic like the Ashes or against England, it’s hard to follow the Australian side because every time they play they have a different team on the field,” Waugh added.
“For the fans and spectators, it is hard to make a connection because you’re not sure who is playing, I don’t know whether it’s anyone’s fault but you need that consistency in the Australian side. You want to know who every game is in the squad, you want to be following it closely and it’s really hard to do that right now,” the World Cup-winning skipper said.