Cricket attracts record crowds for domestic and international games
Monday 23 November 2015 15:39, UK
Cricket has recorded its highest overall attendance figures for international and domestic matches in England and Wales since the ECB was founded 18 years ago.
An Ashes summer for men and women combined with three successful domestic competitions drew more than 2.3 million fans to matches.
In county cricket, more than 1.5m people attended LV= County Championship, Royal London One-Day Cup and NatWest T20 Blast matches combined and all three competitions recorded increased total attendances year-on-year.
International attendances were up by 75,000 on 2014 - despite all five Investec Ashes Test matches finishing inside four days - supported by Test and one-say series against New Zealand and sell-out women's internationals.
Key trends from 2015 included more than 560,000 fans watching England in Investec Test matches, 193,000 in Royal London ODIs and 31,000 in NatWest International T20s.
A total of 513,000 people watched LV= County Championship matches - up from 495,000 last year.
More than 200,000 people attended the 72 Royal London One-Day Cup matches - an increase of around 500 per match on the previous year.
The average NatWest T20 Blast attendance per match rose by 800 and 11 out of 18 counties saw their NatWest T20 Blast attendances increase year-on-year.
ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said: "Across the summer attendances grew for each of the county competitions as well as the international games.
"We saw an inspiring series with New Zealand and an Investec Ashes victory for England's men; an ever-higher profile and record crowds for the Women's Ashes series; ECB records for all three formats of the domestic game; and, at grassroots level, significant increases in entries for our junior cricket competitions alongside our highest levels of volunteering for the NatWest Cricket Force.
"These figures reflect a big effort by the counties, our international venues and partners to enhance the match-day experience, improve facilities and make our cricket grounds as fan-friendly and accessible as possible.
"They are all good signs and there are big opportunities ahead. We know that there's more that can be done to draw people to watch and play cricket and further improve standards across the game."
