Cricket fans stay away from Perth Test amid lingering anger over Justin Langer saga

West Australian cricket fans have let their feet do the talking after a disappointing attendance on day one of the first Test against Pakistan in Perth. Concerns had been raised in the lead-up to the series that many fans would boycott the Perth Test at Optus Stadium in protest against the treatment of home town hero and former Australia coach Justin Langer.

On Thursday, those fears were realised after more than two-thirds of the seats around the 60,000-capacity stadium remained empty. Cricket WA had been hoping for more than 20,000 fans to turn out on the opening day but the sad reality was that only 16,259 passed through the turnstiles across the day. Curiously, that figure was still significantly more than the 10,929 that attended day one of the Perth Test against the West Indies last year.

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The crowd figures could be attributed in some part to the saga around Langer, who is a proud West Australian and even has a stand named after him at Optus Stadium. Many fans from WA were left seething over his treatment by Cricket Australia (CA) and disillusioned with the national side after he was effectively pushed out of the head coaching role in 2022.

The Aussie cricket legend ultimately quit after refusing to accept a six-month contract extension to stay on as Australia's head coach - an offer deemed by many to be insulting to the 105-Test great. Langer's exit came in spite of him helping Australia to a T20 World Cup triumph and Ashes glory on home soil, with several Australian players reportedly unhappy with his tough and unrelenting man-management style.

WA cricket fans disillusioned by Justin Langer saga

For a man revered by cricket fans around Western Australia, it was a bitter end to his tenure as national coach and left many fans in WA disillusioned with the sport. Outgoing WA cricket CEO Christina Matthews warned in the build-up to the first Test against Pakistan that many fans had been turned off the sport because of the treatment of Langer, despite the former coach insisting he'd moved on.

“We knew that part of the issue was getting people to see that Justin’s over it and loves the Australian team, and wants them to do well and wants them to be in Western Australia,” Matthews said. “Justin was different because Justin is so loved here, been so successful here, he was very successful as an Australian coach, dragging the reputation of the team out of a very low base, and I don’t think Justin or anybody has been angry at the Australian team for that, but they were angry about the way he was treated.

“Instead of just pulling off the Band-Aid and making a decision, it was dragged out and I think people here felt he wasn’t treated with the respect he deserves. I don’t have any problem with the fact they didn’t want him to coach, but I did have a problem with the way they managed it, and I think that didn’t sit well with the people of WA."

Another explanation for the underwhelming crowd figures on day one is the fact Pakistan are simply not the drawcard that an India or an England side would be. Even Pakistan legend Wasim Akram predicted the new-look and largely inexperienced Test side would struggle in the Australian furnace that has reduced many a proud Test-playing nation to tears.

Survey suggests there is still an appetite for Test cricket

One alternate theory for the meagre crowds may be that the general public has simply lost its appetite for Test cricket, particularly in the age of T20 cricket. One only has to look at the crowds during an Ashes series in Australia or England to realise that Test cricket is still alive and kicking, with a recent survey from CricBlog indicating there is still plenty of interest in the red-ball game around the world.

Nearly 5000 fans responded to the cricket site's question about whether Test cricket is in danger after the underwhelming attendance on day one in Perth. The findings of the survey showed that close to 90% of respondents believed Test cricket would still be around in 15 years. 42.1% of respondents did believe that Tests would only be played between a maximum of six nations by 2038.

In other key findings from the survey, nearly half of the respondents picked ODI cricket as the one format to be ditched if the ever-expanding international schedules became too much. Many cricket purists have been concerned for the future of red-ball cricket as more nation's prioritise their more lucrative domestic T20 competitions. South Africa became the latest to make such a decision in a move slammed by Aussie pair Pat Cummins and Steve Smith.

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