The Melbourne Cricket Club is open to discussions around moving the starting time for Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test to 12:00pm to ensure more fans are in the ground from ball one.
Damning statistics showed the crowd numbers doubling at lunch on day one from the number at the start of play on Boxing Day as fans arrive late due to the Christmas festivities the day before.
Gerard Whateley floated the idea of the first ball on Boxing Day being bowled at 12:00pm to allow for a much larger crowd to start the day’s play.
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The statistics show the crowd jumped from 32,000 to 62,000 from 10:30pm to 12:30pm on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test.
A final decision on the start time would ultimately be left to Cricket Australia, but Melbourne Cricket Club CEO Stuart Fox agrees it’s a conversation that needs to be had.
“I think you’re using the data to run a good case here and it’s hard to run against,” Fox told SEN radio.
“I love the traditional timeslot and I love the fact that it hasn’t changed but I think we’ve got to be up for the discussion and I think that data suggests that if you did start around midday, you’re going to have a lot more people inside the stadium watching the game.
“I think that’d be really special.”
Cricket Australia has indicated a change in start time is not something they would consider any time soon.
CA chief executive Nick Hockley has stated he supports the usual 10:30am start.
However, Whateley noted on Friday morning, tradition and convention should not be confused given the history of the start time.
“I’m amazed how people defer to tradition when there is no such tradition,” Whateley said.
“10:30 is not the traditional starting time of Boxing Day, it was 11:00 for a long time. It’s a lazy argument to say tradition is this, it’s not.
“The television era moved the start times from 11 to 10:30 so that the news didn’t get interrupted.
“So it’s completely flexible when these Test matches start. It’s convention, not tradition, and once convention doesn’t fit anymore it should be altered.”
As of 10:00am on Day 4 the MCG had seen 146,842 fans come through the gate across the Test match, with just 3,598 in attendance to start Friday’s play.
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