Cardiff out to bowl over world cricket organisers

GLAMORGAN CE Alan Hamer has admitted that Cardiff’s role as one of the host venues for the Champions Trophy “raises the stakes” for county and country cricket and that their success or otherwise will have a direct effect on Swalec Stadium’s prospects as a venue for international cricket.

Cardiff is up against Birmingham and London as one of three grounds hosting the June 6-23 event. While three of the five games at each of The Oval and Edgbaston sold out in the first round of ticketing, only one of Cardiff’s events — the opening fixture between India and SA — did so, with sales in the other matches described as average. A second, limited batch of tickets for all Champions Trophy matches, including India versus Pakistan at Edgbaston, will go on sale today.

With the next four-year cycle of international match allocations in England to include the World Cup and Ashes in 2019, as well as the proposed World Test Championship in 2017, Hamer believes an impressive Champions Trophy showing will help to state Cardiff’s case. While not as celebrated as grounds such as Lord’s or Headingley, Hamer emphasised the importance of continuing to create that history, and he wants a “sports hungry” Welsh public to play their part, with the eyes of the cricket world watching.

“This is the first time we’ve had a global event here, so it raises the stakes, not just for us but for the country, because the TV audience isn’t just UK-based, it’s worldwide,” he said. “And it gives an opportunity for people overseas to understand a bit more about Wales and Welsh cricket. It is important to us because if this tournament goes well, it puts us in a strong position when it comes to staging future global events.

“We’re still a relatively new ground in terms of history of international matches. The only way we’re going to increase our ‘database’ is by staging more games. Other grounds have a lot more history and a lot more games than us. We’ve only got one Test match in the current fouryear cycle, the 2015 Ashes … and at the end of the cycle we’ll be in a far stronger position in terms of support base.”

While Cardiff may well be judged in comparison with attendances in London and Birmingham, Hamer said that any rivalry was friendly. “All the venues are trying to work together to support their respective matches, so as well as us doing well here, we need The Oval and Edgbaston to do well as well. It’s good competition,” he said.

Tickets for the Champions Trophy — which is being held for the final time — are priced as low as £20 for adults sitting in the family sections. Strategies for Cardiff include targeting the city’s student population and invoking the successful sporting events held in Wales in recent years, from the Ryder Cup to multiple Football Association Cup finals and the 2009 Ashes Test.

Although there is the perennial competition for attention from rugby and soccer, there is a sense that the impending arrival of the world’s best cricketers in Wales will catch the public’s imagination. The tournament will open in Cardiff, with a ceremony at the medieval castle in the city, while teams preparing between matches will be based in nearby Newport, using local facilities.

Glamorgan will hand over control of their Swalec Stadium — which will be rebranded as the Cardiff Wales Stadium — to the International Cricket Council for the duration of the tournament, meaning ticket revenue goes back to the governing body, but thronging crowds are likely to increase the “secondary spend” on food and drink, to go with the venue hire fee. Cricinfo.com