Has Border-Gavaskar Trophy surpassed popularity of Ashes? Ponting explains
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy saw a record crowd attend all five matches of the series. The bilateral series shattered the records to become the most attended non-Ashes series in the history of Australian cricket. A total of 837,879 people attended the games in the stadiums, which awed the commentators during the tenure of the series.
The BGT was the fourth most attended series in Australian cricket history, behind the 1936-37, 2017-18, and 1946-47 Ashes series. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was asked about the growing popularity of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and whether it had surpassed the Ashes.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Full Coverage
Ponting said that there was no doubt that the BGT was growing by leaps and bounds, but the fans will get to know which series is more popular when England visit Australia later in 2025.
“I had a look at the numbers yesterday, it was something like 837,000 people came to watch the Test matches, which is unheard of here in Australia,” Ponting told The ICC Review.
“So now that this series has happened, Australia have England coming out next summer so we’ll get a better idea then. If the numbers aren’t the same, then there’ll be no doubt that the (Border-Gavaskar) rivalry (is bigger), certainly from the fans’ point of view,” Ponting added.
“There’s two separate parts to this: There’s what the fans want to see and the rivalry that they want to make of it, but it’s also how the players view the rivalry between the three teams now,” Ponting said.
Ponting rightly pointed out the series figures could have been even bigger if the Test matches went all 5 days. Only the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne went to the final day in the entire series. Matches in Adelaide and Sydney finished in just 3 days.
“Perth only went four days, Adelaide only went three days, Sydney only went three days,” Ponting continued.
“Those numbers would have been astronomical if those Test matches all went five days. So exactly this time next year, we’ll have a great idea of the biggest rivalry in world cricket,” concluded the legendary cricketer.
