Stewart Regan hopes that next week’s match between Pakistan and Australia will not be the last neutral Test staged at Headingley.
The Yorkshire chief executive wants the county’s strong Asian community to vote with their feet to ensure the club have the backing to bring Shahid Afridi’s men to the region again in the future.
“We hope that Pakistan will come back here in the future and that we’ll have the opportunity to host a Test match against India,” said Regan.
“But if this match isn’t successful, we’re not going to get the same level of support from people like sponsors.”
Regan has admitted that “it’s not going quite as well ticket-wise as we would have liked”, with approximately 50 per cent having been sold for the first four days.
“Some of that we think is maybe down to the tendency amongst the Asian community to buy late,” he said.
“We’re doing everything we can and it could be that there are a lot of walk-up sales on the day.
“If you look at both teams, they’ve got some fantastic players in their ranks.
“There’s not just the likes of Ponting, Bollinger, Hussey, Hilfenhaus and Johnson for Australia, there are plenty of household names for Pakistan since they lifted the bans on players.
“For the general cricket lover, there is the chance to see some of the best players in the world.”
Pakistan fans will certainly be made to feel right at home at Headingley, with things such as prayer rooms and halal food being available as well as stewards who speak urdu being on duty.
Regan explained: “There are some basics we have to do irrespective of who’s playing, things like getting the pitch ready, preparing all the facilities, programmes and scorecards.
“A lot is exactly the same as if it were an England Test. What is different is that it’s a Pakistan Cricket Board event, not one controlled by the ECB.
“We are expecting up to 80 or 90 per cent Pakistan fans and then 10 per cent Australians and general cricket fans. It will certainly be heavily biased.”
The Test match will also signify the official opening of the impressive new Carnegie Pavilion, which has been in use for the last couple of weeks.
Regan said: “It’s a good opportunity for us to showcase the new pavilion. We are really keen to let the world have a good look at it. We want to show that we are capable of hosting a good event.”
The chief executive spoke about a £17million debt at the club’s annual meeting in March and there has been recent talk that this event is crucial to the club’s financial future.
Regan said: “I think that’s going a bit over the top. We are one of only two clubs with a staging agreement through until 2019.
“But where it is crucial is that we’ve not got a Test match here in 2011. We are relying heavily on 2010, including the one-day international in September, to generate as much revenue as possible to help the club’s financial position.”
General tickets start at £30. Yorkshire are also partners in staging the Yorkshire Cricket Mela, a series of events across the region from now until the end of the Test. Visit www.theyorkshirecricketmela.com for details.
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