Shoaib Akhtar, a former Pakistani pacer, has responded to the picture of empty stands at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) that has gone viral by saying that it is “food for thought.” He has also commented on the scheduling of a three-match ODI series so soon after England’s victory in the Twenty20 World Cup.
Shoaib Akhtar also hammered home his argument by adding that a cricket match between India and Pakistan was played at the same site in the T20 World Cup about a month earlier, and over 92,000 fans attended the event.
The one-day international series that was played between Australia and England, which the former country won 3-0, saw a low crowd attendance, and the spectators did not show out in numbers to support the home team.
“This should give one something to think about. An incredible world cup JUST came to a close. The defending champions of the series, England, were forced to play within the next three days.
However, the attention of the spectators in a match between England and Australia is as follows. One month after the Pakistan vs. India match that took place here and was attended by 92,000 people, “tweets by Shoaib Akhtar
This should give one something to think about. An incredible world cup JUST came to a close. The defending champions of the series, England, were forced to play within the next three days. However, the attention of the spectators in a match between England and Australia is as follows.
One month after the Pakistan vs. India match, there were 92,000 spectators in attendance here.
In the sport of cricket, the matter of scheduling has been hotly contested for quite some time now, and many people have begun to speculate about the future of bilateral cricket series.
Following the conclusion of the one-day international series against Australia, England’s captain Jos Buttler offered his thoughts on the matter. He stated that the series should not be viewed as an example of how to keep bilateral cricket active.
“Find a means to ensure that everything remains pertinent, and this will take care of itself. It is possible that the International Chess Championships (ICC) should be spaced out a little bit further; doing so would provide you with more time to get ready for each event, and it would also likely make each one feel more significant when it finally arrived.
Over the course of the past few years, there has been a significant shift in the cricket environment, and now we are living in a different era. There is a lot of discussion going on about how to maintain the interest in bilateral cricket, and I believe that this series is a terrific illustration of how probably not to maintain that interest “Buttler told BBC.
“My opinion is that having overlapping series is one of the most important things. In addition to the team that is competing in this location at the same time, we have certain players who are getting ready to go to Pakistan for a test series that will begin very soon. During the first week of the new year, a one-day international series begins in Bangladesh on the very same day as a Test match concludes in New Zealand “he noted.
“To tell you the truth, I have a little sympathy for the players, especially the younger ones who are just starting out in the game right now. You want to compete in all available formats, but I don’t think the timetable really affords you the opportunity to do so right now.”