LEFT ARM OVER
NEIL MANTHORP: Fans hold the key to Mzansi Super League success
Serious, committed research work must happen with the fans. Why has humble Boland Park attracted the biggest crowd so far?
Cricket has long been in the business of innovative entertainment, switching between bouts of insecure fretting about its worth and sustainability, and the next change to a format or rule change to adapt to the times and stay relevant. We often forget that it has done a pretty good job for the last 250 or so years. It might be worth asking whether the changes it has made might have been swifter and less expedient if greater attention had been paid to the needs and desires of those who pay money to watch the game regularly, either live or on television. Administrators have mostly got it right — more by trial and error and happy accident than methodology. There have also been, still are and always will be a minority among those in charge who believe that most cricket fans don’t know what they want until they have it shoved down their throats. Cricket SA had intended to conduct (apparently) extensive fan surveys before Global League crashed and burned and they had no chance to do so be...
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