I've
had my say elsewhere about the spat that has developed between
Warwickshire
and Kent about the pricing policy that the Bears are applying for the
Royal London Cup semi-final match between the two counties this
Thursday (4 September) -see
http://deepextracover.com/2014/09/02/kent-chief-executive-gets-cross-with-bears-admission-policy/#.VAXOlrtX6zs
I've
had some additional thoughts about this. The short-term economics of
the situation are obviously important. Kent want to get the most
they can out of their 25% share of the gate receipts. Too many
freebies and their “take” may be much smaller than they would
have liked. On the other hand, Warwickshire will be hoping that
plenty of spectators will be attracted by the cheap prices and the
free offers and will not just turn up but will spend well at the food and
drinks outlets and in the Club shop.
But
there's a wider picture with a longer time horizon.
Let me
personalise it. I write as someone who has supported Warwickshire
County Cricket Club for a very long time. To be precise, I first saw
a match at Edgbaston on 6 August 1953. It was the second day of the
match between the county and the Australian touring team.
I
don't have any recollection of the admission charges for that match.
They can't have been that excessive because there were hordes of kids
there, sitting on the grass just outside the boundary. I was up in
what was then the Rea Bank stand with my mother. She had cycled
about six miles to pick me up from my grandmother's house and taken
me on three buses to get to the ground. Neither she nor my dad had
any personal interest in cricket. So she must have been indulging
her number one son's latest whim. That being so, there must have been
a price cut-off point at which my mother would have decided that she
couldn't quite afford to take me. Without going into details, we
were not wealthy. My dad made his living as a cobbler. If there was
a week when not enough people wanted their shoes repaired, we
certainly didn't starve; but we probably didn't eat so well and any
treats were out of the question.
My
point is this. What would the long-term consequences have been if
the Warwickshire authorities had upped the prices beyond what my
mother could afford? “Some other time, maybe next season” she
would have said; and I would have accepted it. But possibly, by the
following April, I would have found a new passion and my devotion to
Warwickshire cricket would have been strangled at birth.
I'm
not sure how much money Warwickshire have made out of me. I've been
a member for well over fifty years and have spent my share of money
on food and drink. Whatever the total, I have no doubts that, from
my point of view, it has been well worth it. I am also sure that
Warwickshire would have survived without me. But every time prices
are lifted, they will exclude some youngsters who have the potential,
like me, to give half a century or more of loyalty to the Club; and
every time prices go down or are maintained at a realistic level,
another few boys and girls may get their first chance to see the best
county on the best ground in the country and may become fans for
life. So the economics of these decisions go well beyond the short
term calculations of the turnstile and bar takings on the day.
Maybe
Kent's Chief Executive might wish to reflect on this.
As
for me, when I am settled down in the Press Box on Thursday, I will
glance across at what is now the Eric Hollies Stand and try to pick
out the spot where that young lad and his mum sat just over 61 years
ago. Possibly I'll see another boy or girl of a similar age; and
maybe they will be there because they have been allowed in for free.
Thursday may just be the day when they fall in love with the game of
cricket and with the Warwickshire team. I hope so; and if they do, I
can tell them that it's likely to be a lifelong passion. Believe me,
I know.
