What do crowds want from cricket tests?

Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan walks back to the pavilion after being dismissed by Imran Tahir. Photo / AP

In these survey-prone days someone must have done the research on what crowds want from test cricket.

There's the curiosity of tonight's pink-ball test in Adelaide where a crowd in excess of 40,000 is expected to congregate for this historic occasion.

Will that sort of intrigue last or will it dissipate to normal test crowd levels once all the theories and ramifications have been digested about changing the hours of test play and using a pink ball.

The anticipated crowd today is a massive boost compared to the 53,572 who watched the entire test between NZ and Australia at the Gabba and the 44,264 who turned out last year at the same Brisbane venue to watch Australia play India.

The long-form of the game has always been an acquired taste for those who admire lengthy periods of sparring and whose days are not manacled to the office.

What do crowds want to get from cricket tests, do they want the game on fast-forward with some of the entertainment associated with one-day cricket?

How do the game's administrators keep the lengthy traditions in the long-form game when dwindling attendances are making some of these matches economic suicide?

At the Gabba this month, the teams scored a combined total of 1432 runs at an average of a tick over 51 runs per wicket as Australia won on the last day. Good value cricket but not attractive enough for strong crowds.

What about the current cricketing carnage between India and South Africa in Nagpur?
In two days 32 wickets have fallen while the teams have accumulated 499 runs. Value for money? Not from the look of the sparse crowds at the Vidarbha Cricket Assn Stadium, in a country where we are told the sport is a lure for the masses.