SCOTLAND captain Craig Wright has issued a rallying cry to cricket fans to grasp the chance to see next month’s historic one-day international against Pakistan.

Ticket sales for the 27 June showpiece have been slow compared to the clamour that greeted last summer’s friendly against Australia. The Pakistan game is on course for a crowd of 2,500 whereas all 4,500 briefs for last year’s game, ultimately washed out, were sold two months in advance.

As Scotland’s first full ODI since the 1999 World Cup, Pakistan’s visit to Edinburgh is of more significance than the Australians’ and Wright admitted he had hoped for a greater surge of interest. Cricket Scotland will set a maximum capacity next week, and should sales reach that ceiling there will be no way to get tickets on the day.

“I don’t actually think 2,500 would be a disastrous crowd midweek, given that we only got about 1,000 when we played Pakistan on a Saturday in Glasgow a couple of years ago,” said Wright, also marketing manager for CS.

“Mind you, that was our first season under the new regime [of playing in a county league], and we had only just started to pick up a profile. I think we have come a long way since then, and World Cup qualification has helped. So it is a bit disappointing there hasn’t been a little more interest, especially with Pakistan doing so well.“

In 2003 a young Pakistan side coached by Javed Miandad beat Scotland by one wicket at Hamilton Crescent. But the game clashed with a Euro 2004 qualifier against Germany at Hampden, and a better indicator of Scotland’s potential fan base might be the ‘99 World Cup games at the Grange against Bangladesh and New Zealand. Each was played on a Monday, yet the ground was swamped.

Wright admits he is frustrated by the struggle to grow cricket’s popularity but insisted that the apparent apathy to domestic games, such as those played in the C&G Trophy by the Saltires, is not a problem peculiar to Scotland.

The Saltires won a second consecutive C&G match on Sunday when they whipped Northamptonshire by 52 runs. However, both upsets were pulled off in cold and damp weather and in front of a couple of hundred people.
“Crowd figures for these current games are, for me, not that surprising and you will not find a country in the world where loads of people turn up to watch this type of domestic cricket,” said Wright.
“We do not play in front of much bigger crowds down south than we do on a sunny day at home. The bottom line is we need more games against the likes of Australia and England, guaranteed draw cards. There is plenty of interest in Scotland - as was shown by the fact that the Aussie game sold out comfortably two months ahead of the game. If we had a big enough ground I do not think a crowd of five figures would be unrealistic if we played England.”