THE Big Bash final in Perth was sold out in record time, but the fact that there are still tickets available for Friday's ODI should not be interpreted as a sign of a dwindling interest in the 50-over format, says Cricket Australia.
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Perth clearly has a strong appetite for Twenty20 cricket, if four sell-out Big Bash crowds is any indication, but the urge to watch ODI matches does not appear as rampant. And it is not an isolated occurence.
About 7,000 of the 10,000 to 11,000 public-seating tickets have been sold for Australia's clash with Sri Lanka on Friday at the WACA Ground, and a crowd of about 15,000 to 16,000 is expected. That attendance would be on par with the sell-out crowds Perth enjoyed during the Big Bash at the ground.
CA said it would be unfair to judge the pulse of 50-over cricket against ticket sales for last month's BBL final, which sold out in just 16 minutes. ''That was an extraordinary phenomenon,'' a CA spokesman said.
''It just doesn't happen; you can't use that as a benchmark. By the normal benchmarks that sane people measure sporting events, Perth is a red-hot event.
''The BBL was an extraordinary success and we're very pleased with that, but that doesn't reflect badly on 50-over cricket.''
There are also other mitigating factors at play this week. The relatively early finish of 8.05pm for a day-night game on a Friday is not overly enticing for the after-work crowd, and Sri Lanka does not have the same drawing power as India.
CA were pleased with the crowd of 29,000 at Sunday's rain-marred ODI between Australia and India at the MCG, just two days after 62,275 turned out for the Twenty20 international featuring the same teams.
''[It was an] extraordinary crowd last night when you consider trees were blowing over early in the day and there was inevitable storm activity,'' a CA spokesman said yesterday. ''The weather was ghastly. We had three hours of torrential rain preceded by gail-force winds that were blowing trees over.''
Channel Nine's telecast of the game drew an average audience of more than 1.3 million viewers, placing it behind only the network's evening news bulletin.
''The reality is, in our research, the one-day format still shows up as the most popular format in Australia,'' the spokesman said. ''There's always more than 1 million watching on TV and that's big TV … particularly over six or seven hours.''
Cricket's drawing power will be tested deeper into the tri-series, which finishes next month, when interest in the nation's winter football codes will rise.
The final four matches of the tri-series will be played after the NRL's premiership season starts on March 1, while the AFL's pre-season competition will also be in full swing by then.
