(Sports) Feature "Woeful' West Indies cast a pall over Boxing Day Test ticket sales

The woeful performance put up by the West Indies in the opening Test match against Australia last week has given rise to fears that the summer's showpiece - the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) - could be a fizzer, watched by the smallest crowd in 16 years.

The West Indies were beaten inside three days in the first Test in Hobart, as they exhibited none of the flair or skill which marked the great Caribbean sides of the 1970s and 80s, and very little of their predecessors' drawing power.

Such has been the lackluster public response to the West Indies' tour - only 15,343 people turned out to watch the Hobart Test - ticket sales for the second Test in Melbourne have reportedly taken a hit.

Traditionally, the Boxing Day crowd at the MCG - on the day after Christmas - draws more than 70,000 fans while series against England, Australia's arch-foe on the cricket field, and India often attracts as many as 75,000 to 85,000 spectators.

But the current West Indies outfit - bereft of many of its best players who have chosen to play in the T20 Big Bash League - will do well to get between 50,000 to 60,000 through the gate on Boxing Day, if early ticket sales trends are any guide.

Local media reports suggested the crowd might be the lowest since the 49,082 who turned out in 1999 to watch the start of a rain-affected Test against India.

Cricket Australia, however, has busily been talking up the event and is confident fans will once again converge at the MCG for the showpiece match.

"The Boxing Day Test is one of the great occasions on the Australian sporting calendar and traditionally has great attendance. We expect yet another good crowd this summer," a Cricket Australia spokesperson told Xinhua on Monday.

The MCG's affiliation with Boxing Day cricket began in 1950 and the annual fixture has become arguably the most popular match of the Australian cricketing summer.

The record attendance on the first day of the Boxing Day Test is 91,112 when Australia played England in the 2013 Ashes series, while that Test also recorded the highest total crowd number when 271,865 fans walked through the turnstiles.

Just months ago the MCG hosted the ICC Cricket World Cup Final between Australia and New Zealand where 93,013 fans packed into the stadium to see the Aussies win the trophy.

The last time the West Indies played a Boxing Day Test, in 2000, the day one crowd at the MCG was 73,233. That number is set to be substantially higher than what is projected for the first day this year.

West Indian star players Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy and Kieron Pollard have opted to play in the Big Bash League - the 20-over competition staged in Australia each January - rather than represent their country in the Test arena, leaving the team low on quality and lacking experience.

As well as missing star players, the West Indies' form leading up to the Test series against Australia was far from impressive.

In a warm-up match before the first test in Hobart, the Windies played against a Cricket Australia XI, made up mostly of teenagers who have yet to play a game for their states in the Sheffield Shield, and were embarrassed. They lost the match by ten wickets, a feat rarely seen in international cricket today.

That result from the tour match did no favors to the attendance figures for the first Test and the predictions for the remaining matches in Melbourne and Sydney.

After defeating the West Indies in Hobart by an innings and 212 runs, the Aussies are going into the MCG Test as unbackable favorites.

Australians love a winner but the apparent lopsidedness of this contest might be enough to even turn them away from their traditional visit to the MCG on the day after Christmas. Enditem