Cricket proves superiority of Melbourne sporting crowds

One would have though that the sporting capital of the world would be interested in more than one sport...or at least picked one with the occasional head on collision.

jarrod, there are plenty of sl expats who will come out to the games (though not as many as the indians for sure). the best hope for the series is that both sl and india knock off australia for a couple of games, and australia are confronted with a battle to make the finals. if that happens, then the fans will get odis that have some context, and that is what we're all after.

Its hard to read too much into these figures considering the Indians are making up at least half the crowd if not more. the crowds for the sri lanka games will be brutal.

I didn't even know there's a debate about who will host the final, of course it's going to be in Melbourne.

Sydneysider through and through, but the final should go to the MCG. It is Cricket Australia headquarters, it is where the first Test and first ODI was played, and it is the biggest stadium in the land that will fit the most fans to watch the spectacle. Stadium Australia in my opinion, should NEVER host anything more than Twenty20. That is all the ground deserves to host. Pure and simple, it is not a cricket ground. It should be used as our equivalent of Wembley, which can host major sporting events that have excessive demand and also rock concerts etc. Sydney's cricket ground will forever be the SCG (duh!), and both Sydney and Auckland should get a semi-final. Jason Cave, why should NZ not get the WC Final? Because if the locals aren't motivated enough to help their cricket board sell out all the games they do have, then where is the motivation for the ICC to move their marquee game every four years to an area that can only fit 30,000 at best, when you can fit 100,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground?

plus the sheer amount of stadiums and professional sport teams that the city sustains is well beyond anything any australian city has

Its hard to go past London for that title. Wimbledon is far bigger than the Aus Open, the FA Cup final ranks alongside the Superbowl as the most watched annual event in the world, each Arsenal and Chelsea home game draws millions of viewers worldwide for 40 or so weeks of the year, Lords doesn´t hold as many people as the MCG but is an even bigger name in cricket and always has at least one (sometimes two Tests) along with one at the Oval. For a pure attendance across multiple sports point of view maybe New York; NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL all much bigger than AFL on a global basis. Plus US Open tennis, again bigger on the calendar than the Aus Open. The only real thing Melbourne has is the F1GP round, which is not held in these other cities. There can´t be much doubt nationally, though, that Melbourne is the bigger sporting hub.

"87,182 packed out the ground for an England versus Pakistan match". Wasn't even a sell out. Like the 10,000 vacant seats that werent offered to the public on the last Ashes boxing day test. Size of crowds don't matter. Unless you're saying the MCG is a better cricket ground than Lords?

Sporting capital of the world!!! I don't think so -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.

Let's just see how the ODI crowds go for the rest of the summer first. I suspect it won't just be Melbourne with poor ODI turnouts. Also note that this was two days after everyone showed up for the T20 on Friday night and the weather forecast was absolutely sh... terrible.

Jason cave the kwis forfeited the right to host world cup finals of any sport after that disgraceful standard of refeering performance of the final or the rugby world cup. Also kiwi fans are very passionate, and make it clear they want the home team to win, and were not very nice to quade cooper when the semi final was going on and the build up, and were only nice after the result and when the wallabies lost. The chi crowds should be more sportmans like to the opposion and cheer and clap if the opponent beat them, thetas perfect sportsmanship like the aussie crowds are true gentleman or England or indian crowds too. They cheer on the opposition as well as the home team even when there home team is losing.

But surely the World Cup Final should be in New Zealand, seeing that Australia hosted it the last time in 1992. Why can't it be NZ's chance to shine again on the world's sports stage, considering the excellent way the Kiwis hosted the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The ICC should decide where the final should be staged at. And I think it should be in Wellington, captial city of NZ. It would save the World Cup committee of solving a major problem-get rid of the Sydney-Melbourne bunfight over who should stage the final and award the final to NZ.

Sydney can dream but could never have an MCG. Homebush is despised by the locals, the MCG is loved. says it all.

From crikey today re yesterday's TV ratings: The top 10 national programs (metro & regional combined): Cricket: Australia v India (Nine) -- 2.022 million Nine News -- 1.848 million Seven News -- 1.762 million Bones (Seven) -- 1.656 million New Girl (Ten) -- 1.634 million

That wouldn't happen to be "the best Olympics ever" would it?

Would love to of known the tv ratings for yesterday's match, not very high I assume.

I still doubt I'd get that supernatural feeling, even if Warne was playing (fine bowler though he undoubtedly has been over many years)...

My spelling is garbage - Cathedral Cathedral Cathedral!

That would explain it then.