Cricket Australia suffered huge loss in MCG testImage Credit source: Getty Images
Australia had already captured the Ashes series but its hopes of clean sweeping England were dashed. In the fourth Test match played in Melbourne, England defeated Australia within 2 days and registered their first win here after almost 15 years. This result did not affect the series but the Melbourne Test brought a double blow for Australian cricket. Not only did the team lose, but Cricket Australia (CA) could suffer a loss of up to Rs 60 crore.
This test match started at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Friday 26th December i.e. 'Boxing Day' but its result was out in just two days. England On the second day of the match, it achieved the target of 175 runs by losing 6 wickets. In this way, he registered a Test win in Australia after almost 15 years. Despite this defeat, the Ashes will remain in the hands of Australia, but the Rs 60 crore that could have come into the treasury of the Cricket Board, was spent.
In fact, 'Boxing Day Test' is always the most special match of the year for Cricket Australia because this match attracts the maximum number of spectators. This time also the same happened and more than 94 thousand spectators reached MCG on the first day, which is a record for any cricket match on this ground. A record total of more than 1.86 lakh fans witnessed this in two days. There would have been a similar crowd on the third and fourth days also, but due to the match ending early, the tickets for these two days had to be cancelled.
The match ending in two days not only affected ticket sales, but also lost the possibility of earning from broadcasting rights, advertising and other sources, which is a big blow to the Australian board, which is already struggling with financial losses. According to an estimate, Cricket Australia is likely to suffer a loss of around 10 million Australian dollars i.e. around Rs 60 crore due to the Melbourne Test.
This is also a big blow for CA because it has to face such a situation for the second time in this series. Earlier, the same thing had happened in the Perth Test match also. This first match of the Ashes series also ended in just 2 days. Australia had won that match but due to the game ending in 2 days, the board's earnings had a big impact and it lost about 5 million Australian dollars i.e. about Rs 30 crore.
