To play a Test match before an audience of the proverbial two men and a dog, as India and Australia are doing in Mohali can be pretty depressing. The President of the Punjab Cricket Association, I.S. Bindra has been honest in his diagnosis – our stadiums must improve their facilities to attract the crowds. But his cure is bizarre - build two more stadiums in Punjab. “We then plan to rotate the matches in these venues as we think the one million Mohali population cannot sustain back to back matches,” he has said. When in doubt, build stadiums. Mohali can start by building covered stands. Despite so much money flowing into the coffers of the cricket boards, spectator comfort is low on the priority list. Watching an international at most of our venues is a painful exercise. The average spectator must prepare himself for a day of torture, both mental and physical, and it is a wonder he keeps returning. Soon, fed up with the poor facilities and bad treatment, he might not. Perhaps that time is now – it was embarrassing to see the empty stands while Sachin Tendulkar went past what he considers the most significant world record of his career. Test cricket is already struggling to match the reach and popularity of Twenty20, and our associations are not helping by encouraging the spectators to keep away. While the authorities ought to be taking care to preserve the game - and one of the ways of doing that is to give the spectators maximum comfort - there is a strange indifference that is probably fostered by the fact that cricket associations are no longer dependent on gate money. Even an empty stadium guarantees profits, thanks to television and the Board's money. So the spectator – without whom the game wouldn't exist – is short changed. Perhaps it is time to think of letting spectators in free into one or two stands. This experiment was tried in Sharjah for a while with success. A full house adds to the game and to the telecast; it excites the sponsors who call the shots in so many ways. One-day cricket has been played at 31 venues in India and Test cricket at 19. Not “to spread the game” as the official cliché goes, but as exercises in vote-catching. Even the best of them are a nightmare to enter, and get out of and to relax in. Size cannot be an excuse, for Melbourne in Australia holds nearly 100,000 spectators, and yet spectators can move around in comfort, take a break to eat or drink or even wander around. Building more stadiums is not the answer. Focus on a few stadiums that are good rather than many which don't deserve to hold internationals. The Board has a Grounds Committee. Perhaps another committee needs to be created – the Spectators Committee whose task it will be to ensure that the backbone of the game, its fans, are not put off by the many inconveniences. Make the fan's day out a memorable one. __
