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| Juggling with stumps and cricket bats at Chester-le-Street - the blue van in the background is a CWC2019 mobile toilet support van! |
Your correspondent, a seasoned cricket watcher, attended two matches - West Indies v New Zealand at Old Trafford in Manchester (normally home of Lancashire), and West Indies v Sri Lanka at the Riverside, Chester-Le-Street (normally home of Durham). Both seemed extremely well organized with the ground at Manchester being especially easy to get into, with almost no queue. There was more queuing at Durham, but the tournament volunteers (or 'cricketeers') kept the queue entertained by announcing facts about the two teams playing. Temporary stands were erected at both grounds to provide cheaper seating, the view from both being excellent, and plenty of catering, bar and toilet capacity was provided, especially at Durham where an army of temporary toilets was deployed alongside the already large existing facilities in the ground. A broad range of catering was provided and the area behind the stands at both matches used to set up a carnival atmosphere with a range of stalls selling merchandise and cricket equipment, as well as entertainers such as Carribean dancers and jugglers. Beer fans will also be interested in the Indian craft keg beer that was sold, Bira 91 - the IPA was pleasant. The on-field action was of high quality too, though the resurgent Windies team were unable to win on either occasion despite their valiant second innings performances. This despite the surprise presence of the Barbadian singer Rhianna at Chester-le-Street!
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| Panoramic view of the action at Old Trafford |
Despite the fact that attendances at domestic cricket can be small, both grounds are already experienced at holding international cricket when England play at the venues and so this meant that existing capabilities could be rolled over by the counties and ECB to deliver a flawless spectator experience. By playing matches in one group of ten and rolling the host grounds from the south-west, with early matches held at Taunton, Cardiff and Bristol to the north-east as the tournament progressed, equipment such as portable toilets and catering as well as in-ground entertainers could be moved around the country. The Indian beer reflects the sponsorship direction of world cricket today, which sees brands that are targeting South Asian and especially affluent Indian consumers partnering with the ICC instead of western brands - the main western brands present were Uber and Coca-Cola, both of which are known for attempting to penetrate Asian markets. The presence of existing capabilities in a single sport makes hosting the event easier than a multi-sport event such as the Olympics or Commonwealth games where events often happen on greenfield sites with no heritage of holding the sports in question. The flaw may be the limited impact on local economies - your correspondent spotted many shirt wearing Sri Lankans heading south on the A1 after the Durham game, suggesting a repeat of 1966 finding that many visiting fans preferred to stay in one place centrally, rather than staying near host grounds. One pleasant impact has been that domestic cricket has continued due to the limitations of the playing season, and so during the tournament the counties have moved out to play more at secondary venues, known as 'outgrounds', with Lancashire and Durham playing each other at Sedbergh School this week.
The ECB, who are much more powerful in their sport than their soccer equivalents, are frequently criticised for their management of the English game, while the ICC has often been criticised for their overt focus on the South Asian market while failing to invest in the growth of the game in non-Test playing nations. But on this occasion, the tournament seems to have engaged visiting fans from around the world together with broadening the fan base in England, and so the ECB and ICC have scored a century and taken five wickets each - howzat!
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