Whateley: The sobering reality for Test cricket in South Africa

If you watched any of the first Test between South Africa and Australia, you might have been forgiven for thinking the game was being played behind closed doors.

The first three days drew a meagre 14,215 spectators with the final two days’ totals so low they weren’t officially published.

The empty stadium at Kingsmead painted a sad picture for the state of Test cricket outside of Australia and SEN Cricket’s Gerard Whateley believes that this is the new status quo for the format in South Africa.

“I think this is the reality in various parts of the world where Test cricket just doesn't hold the same attraction that it is in Australia and England in particular, and that was demonstrated visibly here (in Durban),” Whateley told SENQ Breakfast.

“I think there's a cultural disconnect with Test cricket and I think if you dig right down into it, even from the moment of readmission into international cricket post-apartheid, the cultural connection to the game is deteriorating here.

“(South Africa) play very little Test cricket in this country now, as you'll be aware, they hadn't played at all as a team for 12 months, and they hadn't played at home since before they won the World Test Championship.”

There had been suggestions that the particularly low crowd numbers in Durban could be attributed to economic hardship and civil unrest with a protest taking place near the stadium.

However, the same issues were not apparent in impacting the attendance at the MTN8 Cup Final which drew 80,000 fans whilst the Test match was being played.

“I'm in the same town at the same time, there were 80,000 strong at the football stadium for a cup final on Saturday night, so you can't (say it’s) civil unrest and the economy and unemployment,” Whateley said.

“This is a bit of a sobering reality and…it makes me sad to see it, but I think this is where Test cricket finds itself in various places around the world.”

However, cricket itself is not a dead in South Africa, in fact the SA20 League has performed sensationally since its inception 2023.

All six teams in the league are owned by IPL franchises, bringing significant funds into the competition and competing with the BBL which is grappling with privatisation itself.

“This is the bit that we find difficult to deal with is South African cricket found a better way, and they found it through their T20 competition, which has gone gangbusters since they introduced it,” Whateley said.

“It offends us to some degree as Australians because of the primacy with which we rate Test cricket.

“But it comes at the expense of other things, so it’s weird because they are the holders of the World Test Championship, and at the start of this series they were the number two ranked team in the world, but Test cricket here doesn't reflect the status of the team it just feels all disjointed.

“I have a different view to some as to what Test cricket will look like in 20 years' time, and I fear it'll be a small premium product that Australia's right at the forefront of, but a lot of nations won't be involved in.”

Crowds are expected to be boosted for the Second Test at St George’s Park in Gqeberha, though it remains to be seen whether Test cricket can regain its prominence in the South African sporting market.

Catch every ball of the Test series against South Africa live across the SEN network.

Photo Credit - Bharat Sundaresan @beastieboy07