It Was The Largest Crowd Ever Gathered To Watch A Women’s Cricket:
On Sunday 8 March, just one week ago, 86,174 people turned out to watch the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) between Australia hosts and India. It was the largest crowd ever gathered to watch a women’s cricket match and appropriately hailed for the sport as a landmark moment. Cut to 5 days later, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, about 900 kilometers north-east of Melbourne, the Australian men’s team was playing an ODI against neighbors New Zealand.
But aside from a fistful of media men, ground-staff and the teams themselves, the 48,000 capacity stadium didn’t have a single spectator present. The unsettling silence was such that Australian opener David Warner did not even know that he made a 50 until his captain at the other end reminded him of it! which happened during these 5 days of intervention, you ask? One single word: coronavirus.
In December 2019, the novel Covid19, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan claimed more than 4,900 lives and infected more than 124,330 people worldwide. Not boasting of being the most awake of all sports, cricket has just begun to be stirred and shaken by what is now considered a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).
After its spread, most of the discussions about cricket coronavirus have concentrated on easy-on – the-eyes stories that rotate players who chose not to shake hands with opposition players and bring in their kits more than ample stocks of hand sanitizers.
But reality struck the game hard on Friday when the 1st ODI was played in front of an empty stadium between Australia and New Zealand as Cricket Australia decided to play the series in gates hoping to curb the spread of the virus.
Look At The Historic Crowd At Women’s Finals:
The moment Sunday's record attendance at the MCG was announced to the crowd 🙌 pic.twitter.com/OSwqZ508EM
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) March 10, 2020
Friday brought more bad news to fans back home in India as the forthcoming season of the hugely popular Indian Premier League (IPL) was postponed in the wake of speculations that were even later canceled.
A sword also hangs on the involvement of international players in the cash-rich league with the Indian government agreeing to suspend visas of all arriving travelers until April 15. There is currently an increase in the number of coronavirus affected people in the country and there is no definitive response to the issue of whether it will take a turn for the better by April 15.
If not, the BCCI would have to do away with the tournament entirely or confine it to playing in empty stadiums for domestic matches. For someone who only has a remote understanding of the IPL, what a sight that would be!
Another Sight From A Recent T20 World Cup Match From Stadium:
🇲🇽🌊 #T20WorldCup | #FILLTHEMCG pic.twitter.com/3VbESioOSI
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) March 8, 2020
A Sight Empty Stands:
Like a needle in a haystack#AUSvNZ pic.twitter.com/T6A29tKaYj
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) March 13, 2020
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