{"id":661,"date":"2026-10-09T12:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T11:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/09\/spotlight-on-low-durban-crowd-for-highly-anticipated-south-africa-australia-test\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T12:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T11:40:09","slug":"spotlight-on-low-durban-crowd-for-highly-anticipated-south-africa-australia-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/09\/spotlight-on-low-durban-crowd-for-highly-anticipated-south-africa-australia-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight on low Durban crowd for highly-anticipated South Africa-Australia Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Updated on 12 hours ago by Charbel Coorey<\/a><\/p>\n

South Africa<\/a> are finally playing a Test match at home, 14 months after winning the World Test Championship (WTC). However, the Proteas and Australia have been met with a very low crowd in Durban on day one of their highly-anticipated series.<\/p>\n

Before the Test, Cricinfo\u2019s<\/em> Firdose Moonda put a few reasons forward<\/a> as to why crowds may be lower for this Test. School, a stagnant economy, high unemployment and nearby beaches in beautiful weather are key factors according to the South African cricket correspondent.<\/p>\n

Also, the MTN8 Final \u2013 a football knockout cup \u2013 will be played closeby at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday 6pm local time. Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns will do battle in front of 50,000 fans.<\/p>\n

Why is there a low crowd in Durban for the SA-AUS Test? Fans, pundits react<\/strong><\/h2>\n

However, fans and pundits expected more for what is a big occasion. The empty stands and grass banks have led to plenty of reactions, with debates as to the state of Test cricket as well as a history of lower attendances at Kingsmead.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you love Test cricket, you have to be following it [the South Africa-Australia series]. Bought a match pass. Decent cricket. But there is nobody at Kingsmead! Hopefully some people later today and on the weekend,\u201d wrote Harsha Bhogle on X (formerly Twitter).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are people acting surprised at the poor crowd attendance in Durban?\u201d wrote fan Lawrence Bailey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean there\u2019s a reason why CSA had to take the Boxing Day Test from them. I heard good crowds are expected over the weekend but if this was Newlands or Centurion a good 10,000 would\u2019ve been in already.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fatima from the The Popping Crease didn\u2019t mince words.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrowd this morning has been despicable. First day of a Test series, the first time you\u2019re seeing your champions at home, and you don\u2019t show up. They better turn up after lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are some of the reactions.<\/p>\n

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Marquee series. #SAvsAus<\/a>. If you love test cricket, you have to be following it. Bought a match pass. Decent cricket. But there is nobody at Kingsmead! Hopefully some people later today and on the weekend.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Why are people acting surprised at the poor crowd attendance in Durban,I mean there’s a reason why CSA had to take the boxing day test from them,I heard good crowds are expected over the weekend bt if this was Newlands or Centurion a good 10 000 would’ve been in already.#SAvAUS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Lawrence Bailey \"\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\udde6\" (@LawrenceBailey0) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Crowd this morning has been despicable. First day of a Test series, the first time you’re seeing your champions at home, and you don’t show up<\/p>\n

They better turn up after lunch #SAvAUS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ThePoppingCrease (@PoppingCreaseSA) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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All the drama and build up about this being the most hyped Test series of the year and there are hardly 500 people in the stadium in the morning of the ist Test and then people wonder why do boards like SA, NZ , WI , AUS want IND to come to their shores every other year pic.twitter.com\/NP0DSTN3kx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Cover Drive (@day6596) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Wow. No one there. #Kingsmead<\/a> #Durban<\/a> #testcricket<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/mr2KOY5v4l<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jimmy Smith \"\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\" (@ThatJimmySmith) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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A SAD PICTURE FROM DURBAN. \"\ud83d\udc94\" <\/p>\n

\u2013 WTC champions South Africa playing a Test Vs Australia infront of empty stadium. pic.twitter.com\/zj37DgXubi<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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It’s a work\/school day, but not a good look for the first day of a Test between the Test world champions and Australia. Hopefully better crowds for the weekend. pic.twitter.com\/4xxjl1ERey<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Simon Borchardt (@SimonBorchardt) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Test cricket in South Africa should only be played at The Wanderers, SuperSport Park and Newlands <\/p>\n

The people of Durban have let themselves down yet again<\/p>\n

\u2014 Scrumming Flyhalf (@scrumming_ten) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Way to support your World Champions South Africa ! Disgraceful turn out for a fascinating 1st Test v Australia . More Aussies in . Sad for the ultimate format #SAvAUS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tony Steele (@tds122) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Test Cricket has died in South Africa! What a poor turnout for a marquee test series! pic.twitter.com\/fUMfppYyvv<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Troll cricket unlimitedd (@TUnlimitedd) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Test Cricket has died in South Africa! What a poor turnout for a marquee test series! pic.twitter.com\/fUMfppYyvv<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Troll cricket unlimitedd (@TUnlimitedd) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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First time Australia have toured SA since 2018 and even before the sandpaper incident it was an unbelievable series with all sorts going on, you\u2019d think if any test was going to sell out this year it\u2019d be this one and Australia have more support staff that SA have fans ffs<\/p>\n

\u2014 Matty (@mattylufc_) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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SA vs AUS was trending everywhere except in the stadium, apparently. \"\ud83d\ude2d\" pic.twitter.com\/pPR3x5Pjpt<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Turnout here in Durban is safe to say very disappointing <\/p>\n

Cracking day though #SaVSAus<\/a> #TestCricket<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qIYl9qWy86<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jake Jeakings (@JakeJeakings1) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

It will be interesting to see what the crowd is like over the weekend. According to reports, around 8,000 tickets have been sold for Saturday.<\/p>\n

At the time of writing, South Africa are on top, reducing Australia to 124\/5 after 42 overs.<\/p>\n

The post Spotlight on low Durban crowd for highly-anticipated South Africa-Australia Test<\/a> appeared first on CricBlog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Updated on 12 hours ago by Charbel Coorey South Africa are finally playing a Test match at home, 14 months after winning the World Test Championship (WTC). However, the Proteas and Australia have been met with a very low crowd in Durban on day one of their highly-anticipated series. Before the Test, Cricinfo\u2019s Firdose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}