Ben Duckett, a starter for the Trent Rockets, admitted he was surprised by the lower turnout at the start of this season’s Hundred despite leading his team to a resounding victory in Cardiff. The number of attendees has dropped by several thousand from the same time last year. Headingley and The Rose Bowl, where IPL owners have altered the teams’ colours, have also seen notable reductions.
According to Duckett, the modest crowds don’t fairly depict the type of cricket being played.
When the Trent Rockets upset London Spirit in a thrilling game, he described the first home crowd at Trent Bridge as “pretty awesome.” However, he asserted that he was unable to understand the overall drop in attendance, especially because he thinks the competition’s quality has improved this season due to the inclusion of a fourth foreign player in each starting lineup.
“I’m not criticising the supporters or anything; but looking around the grounds, there must be a purpose for it. It’s a Wednesday at 3 p.m., so it’s unlikely to be a full house. However, the quality of cricket this year has been fantastic. “I’ve been watching every game [on TV],” Duckett remarked, as reported by Cricinfo. “You have [Marco] Jansen, Chris Woakes, and Lockie Ferguson, which is why I had trouble with that new ball.” In the powerplay, Sam Cook didn’t even bowl. There aren’t many flaws anywhere you look,” he continued.
The left-handed hitter relied on his two seasons of experience with Welsh Fire at Sophia Gardens despite his struggles to find his rhythm. He now leads the competition in runs scored this season with two half-centuries and a knock of 49.
“I’m thrilled that we prevailed. Our sole goal in coming here was to win the game. It was difficult; I really struggled out there. I would have taken it early in the day because I’ve been feeling a little sick in bed for the past several days, but it wasn’t as fluent as I would have liked. I was much more fluent at Trent Bridge,” Duckett remarked.
