Bangladesh at Lords in May

[Mattm707]

Hi all, I'm working with the MCC to try and get a big crowd to Lords in late May for the Test Match against England. You will probably all be 'hard core' fans, but how do you think we can motivate a wider audience of Bangladesh supporters to come along? It would be great to get your thoughts, but please also drop me a note if you have any questions. Many thanks, Matt.

[Equinox]

Maybe scheduling it when people don't have exams would've helped. I really wanted to go to this Test but it is at the same time as my A-Level exams. I am going to two ODIs but still watching a Test in Lord's is something else. And I have never watched a Test match from the ground.

[Mattm707]

Good point Equinox, but will you be working all weekend? Day three on Saturday could be worth going to. You need a break!

[abu2abu]

I'd say give out concessionary (or even better free) tickets somewhere where there is a big bangladeshi community. Perhaps a stall at whitechapel market on a saturday? You could even get a bangladesh player and england player to turn up to sign autographs.

It would also help if there were Bangladesh cricket shirts, caps etc available at the venue on match days. I went to watch Bangladesh v England at the oval in 2005 and was disappointed to learn there were no Bangladesh shirts for sale (there were plenty of England ones!).

The main thing though (I'd say) is affordable tickets....

[Equinox]

Originally Posted by Mattm707
Good point Equinox, but will you be working all weekend? Day three on Saturday could be worth going to. You need a break!

Yup. I was thinking about that. But as it is Bangladesh the match will probably end on Day 3. Do you think the match will be a sell-out because for me it's best to be sure that I can make it and buy the tickets on the day from the ground.

And yeah I agree with abu bhai. Give me free tickets and to hell with A-Levels

[Mattm707]

Ticket prices haven't been announced yet, but I expect them to be discounted from down to about £40 for adults, as well as cheaper tickets for kids and family/group discounts.

Great idea about Whitechapel Market, and it would be good if we could organise some flags and caps for those that book in advance. How do you think we should let everyone know about the Whitechapel Market ticket stall?

[Equinox]

Originally Posted by Mattm707
Ticket prices haven't been announced yet, but I expect them to be discounted from down to about £40 for adults, as well as cheaper tickets for kids and family/group discounts.

Great idea about Whitechapel Market, and it would be good if we could organise some flags and caps for those that book in advance. How do you think we should let everyone know about the Whitechapel Market ticket stall?

Banglacricket (FREE)
Facebook (by opening a group/event page - FREE)
Cricinfo (Won't be very effective but worth a try)
BBC Asian Network (radio)

You could advertise both the stall and the match on Bangladeshi TV channels like NTV, Channel I, ATN Bangla. They are not very expensive. They are on Sky channels 834, 844 and 827 respectively. Maybe get one of the "star" players like Mashrafe, Shakib, Ashraful or Tamim to appear on the ad.

[Equinox]

But tickets are already on sale on the Lord's website.

[magic boy]

oi welcome to BanglaCricket Mattm707....stay & enjoy

[Equinox]

If you do go ahead with this idea (stall in Whitechapel) please let me know if you need volunteers.

Another idea is you could contact the organisers of the East London mela to publicise the Test during the mela. Tens of thousands of Bengalis attend the mela (fair) and a lot of people watch it on TV. And I think it is just before the Test as well so it is perfect timing. It would be even better if you could get a player from the Bangladesh team or even the whole team to go on stage and ask people to come and watch them.

[abu2abu]

Originally Posted by Mattm707
Ticket prices haven't been announced yet, but I expect them to be discounted from down to about £40 for adults, as well as cheaper tickets for kids and family/group discounts.

Great idea about Whitechapel Market, and it would be good if we could organise some flags and caps for those that book in advance. How do you think we should let everyone know about the Whitechapel Market ticket stall?

I'm glad you like my idea, but I still think £40 a ticket is a bit on the expensive side for most people.

As for where to advertise, try and get an advert in the East End Life, this is Tower Hamlet's coucil's local paper and is delivered free to every house in the borough.

If the stall goes ahead, I will turn up to claim my free cap!...

[Shobha]

I've got exams aswell ........BUT i dont care If im still alive by may then there is nothing in this world stopping me from attending that match!....and all the other matches in that series

[1RParker]

Originally Posted by Equinox
Banglacricket (FREE)
Facebook (by opening a group/event page - FREE)
Cricinfo (Won't be very effective but worth a try)
BBC Asian Network (radio)

You could advertise both the stall and the match on Bangladeshi TV channels like NTV, Channel I, ATN Bangla. They are not very expensive. They are on Sky channels 834, 844 and 827 respectively. Maybe get one of the "star" players like Mashrafe, Shakib, Ashraful or Tamim to appear on the ad.

Hi - I've been a BC fan and follower for years and have only got around to posting on the site following Matt's post. I really hope we can get a good crowd for the first few days of the Test and think the idea of an advert on the Bangladeshi sky channels is a great idea. Almost evrey bengali home has these channels and it would be a great platform to advertise tickets. Good luck Matt.

[Roni_uk]

Oh thanks for reminding me. This was at the back of my head to buy tickets for since December. Now I will put it down on my to do list. I am definitely going insallah. I am also Lords' member so hopefully they will send me ticket details before going public .

I don't think you will need to market much. BD matches in London or surroudings always get good crowd (not houseful coz not many brits bangladeshis understand cricket, specially those born here). People who admir cricket and our BD will be aware of it and go.

[Roni_uk]

Ah.. just checked. Tickets are available to buy...

http://tickets.lords.org/acatalog/En...adeshDay1.html

[Shehwar]

Sounds great! It'll be good to have a bit of support. I went all the way to Nottingham to watch the T20 against India and we were outnumbered 98:2! You could count the number of Bangladeshi supporters in the stands. A bit of awareness wouldn't do any harm! Good luck Matt.

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[Roni_uk]

Originally Posted by Shehwar
Sounds great! It'll be good to have a bit of support. I went all the way to Nottingham to watch the T20 against India and we were outnumbered 98:2! You could count the number of Bangladeshi supporters in the stands. A bit of awareness wouldn't do any harm! Good luck Matt.

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and I went there twice for both matches and also bought all the second round match tickets thinking that we will beat the irish. Even the irish crowd out-numbered us.

[bangla-red]

I have exams, so I can't go... it's pathetic that there are no ODIs in London, I could have gone to one of them I think.

[Purbasha T]

Originally Posted by bangla-red
I have exams, so I can't go... it's pathetic that there are no ODIs in London, I could have gone to one of them I think.

A levels you mean? Don't all they finish way before the end of June? the ODIs are starting from late June or early July I think. What's the problem then?

[Yameen]

Im hopefully going to attend the 1st two days at Lords and a couple of ODIS including bristol..my exams finish by 14th may..sweeet timing!

[Wakidul]

It's only because we at Bangla cricket follow the bdesh cricket that we know their scheduling, however many of bangladeshi community arent really aware of bangladeshs matches especially in England.

I say the best way in alerting them about matches is to advertise the match on the bengali channels broadcasted on sky, eg channel S, Bangla TV, atn Bangla etc. If it is possible get a superstar to advertise this as i know indian channels use harbajan or UV to advertise indias matches. Perhaps ashraful would be a great solution for advertising the matches on the telly, since he is most probably the most famous bangladeshi batsmen.

One other problem is that with the test match i doubt many people will arrive simply because its a test and a slow addition of the game of cricket, and secondly because many of the matches are on saturdays (problem for restaurant workers). Advertise the entire series i say including odis and t20's.

[Ajfar]

i'm about to open up a cyber beg account and start bhikkaing, so i can fly across the ocean.

[Peace]

In addition to suggestions made by the posters above, I think the following possibilities might help to get bigger Bengali crowd:
1. Announce compulsory statutory holiday for “Indian restaurant” owners and staffs on the match day in England.
2. High profiling of Sylheti born Banladeshi players, in that, they should appear in the local community and media. The players should also be encouraged to make promotional appearance in businesses own by Bengali community in East London.
3. Encourage BCB to include number of Sylheti players in the squad (as many as possible).
4. Allow free promotional publicity of restaurants inside the ground, eg. Placard, banner etc, and display them during broadcasting.

[bangla-red]

Originally Posted by Purbasha T
A levels you mean? Don't all they finish way before the end of June? the ODIs are starting from late June or early July I think. What's the problem then?

I'm talking about end-of-year exams

[al Furqaan]

one of the more important things is to have matches on weekends or perhaps mondays...many of the UK bangladeshis are working class or own restaurants and their schedules are a bit different, usually very busy on weekends, but less so on weekdays.

effective marketing ploys as suggested by abu and others also might help.