$5000 burger? Wine and Beer, too!

Or $10000 if you'd like elite cricket company, too.

    It was the fourth occasion on which I’d experienced an India/ Pakistan match at an ICC event but, obviously, the first in New York. Or, Long Island, as New Yorkers are always quick to point out. They are very different places – at least to New Yorkers and Long Islanders.

The cheapest seats in the two vast stands on either side of the ground cost $350 but that wasn’t where the real money was to be made. Each end of the ground was given over to VIP suites and Premium Club lounges holding around 2000 people each. The cheap tickets there started at $3000 with the elite ones selling for $10,000.

That’s right, $10,000 for a T20 match. FBI agents were amongst the five divisions of officers providing security for these very special guests who were also treated to the company of tournament ambassadors Yuvraj Singh, Wasim Akram and Chris Gayle. As part of their very generous ICC commentary fee, the likes of Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith were required to visit and mingle, too. Just briefly.

    There will never be a shortage of people willing to exploit wealthy Indians’ desire to be associated with their national cricket team, nor a shortage of wealthy Indians entirely happy to be exploited. Most of the Premium Club tickets cost $5000 and offered an endless supply of food (mostly cheese burgers and samosas) and drinks. Except, most of it did run out.

Although it was as much about the status and prestige of being there, and being seen to be there, the match on the field was so compelling by the final few overs that grumbles about the fridges only stocking bottled water and gallons of sponsors Coke were forgotten.

    But they weren’t all super-rich. Several will wake up in the next few days wondering what they have done, and why, and how they’re going to pay off their credit cards. I know this because I spoke to at least a dozen of them on match day. “It’s like a drug, you just have to have that ticket, no matter what it costs,” was the general theme of their comments. Would they do it again if, say, India and Pakistan played a series here? “I’d like to say ‘no’ but…”

    There are approximately 4.5 million American citizens with Asian heritage, or ex-pats, which doesn’t sound much in a population of 340 million, but measured by financial worth it is evidently a weighty 4.5 million which can be used to germinate a greater, even more valuable interest in the greater American public. At least, that’s the plan.

A lot of puff and bluster has been aired, by people who should know better, about conditions in the new stadium. They say it’s a “poor advertisement” for the game to a new audience. I think that’s bollocks. Sports-inclined people are drawn towards tension and drama, of which there has been plenty at the Nassau County Stadium. It’s not ideal, not to be advocated for repetition, but it’s delivered compelling contests.

    Tristan Stubbs, in defending the pitches, offered an informed view on why teams have been struggling to reach 100:   

    “The under-rated thing about the conditions and what makes scoring so difficult, is the lack of pitches on either side of the one you’re playing on. Usually ,when you’re playing in the middle, there’s four or five pitches on either side so you can just block the ball to sweepers to rotate the strike because of the hard ground. But here, you have to really hit the singles, you can’t block them because the ball just stops.

    “And you can’t just drop the ball to third man for a single because the grass is so thick that, again, the ball just stops. You constantly have to hit the ball harder than you would normally want to, just to rotate the strike,” Stubbs explained. And ‘forcing’ your shots, of course, inevitably hinders timing.

    Aiden Markram, too, defended conditions: “We know why the pitches are behaving the way they are, they’re brand new. They just need a bit of traffic on them and to ‘bed in,’ but they’re not bad pitches. The whole stadium is amazing and it’s been an an incredible experience to play here,” he said ahead of his team’s final group ‘D’ match in St.Vincent against Nepal.  

*There were concerns before the match that dozens of nefarious media accreditations had been applied for, and granted, to cunning super-fans keen to avoid the $350 ticket price. My suspicions were aroused by this man in front of me, who had not been seen at any previous match. He worked diligently throughout the match, writing what must have been a feature-length report, and did not once burst into spontaneous apply as India approached victory. Unlike some of the regulars on the beat.      

The final word goes to Jasprit Bumrah: The headlines and accolades always go to the batsmen, but bowlers win games and he wins more than anyone, as he did, again, today.