To the administrator, the fan is just another drop in the revenue stream. To the player, the fan is a dutiful cheerleader, whose job is to make him feel appreciated, to boo his opponents and to buy his autobiography. To the journalist, the fan is an uninformed member of the great unwashed who frequently has the wrong opinion (such as, for example, enjoying T20) and who exists mainly to provide the kind of raucous, drunken stadium atmosphere best enjoyed from the other side of the press box window.
The sports pages are full of speculation about dressing-room gossip, groin-strain recovery times, selection pratfalls and tedious board meetings, but the cricket establishment doesn't seem all that interested in the opinions of the cricket fan.
Take the price of watching cricket. Ask Ravi Shastri or Colin Graves how much it costs to attend a Test match and they'll probably shrug like government ministers being quizzed about the price of bread. If your tickets are free, you're bound to be a little out of touch, but for those of us who have to pay to get in, price is a pressing matter. It's a subject of immediate relevance to fans all over the world, although our experiences vary widely, as a closer examination of the cost of watching cricket in India, England and Australia reveals.
Listen to the average English cricket fan for any length of time and sooner or later they'll complain about the price of international tickets. They have a point. The ECB has been content to let the forces of supply and demand operate more or less freely, and since English stadia are small by global standards, with none able to seat over 30,000 spectators, compared to 19 of that size in India and six in Australia, this has inevitably meant high prices. The cheapest Test match tickets for adults are generally around the £80 mark, which is roughly 4% of the average UK monthly income. Compare this to the cost of entry-level Test match tickets in Australia, which are around A$35, or less than 1% of the average monthly income, and you might indeed conclude that the English fan has a raw deal.
But when it comes to the cost of admission, Indian fans have the worst of it. Ticket prices in India are significantly higher than those in England and Australia, and one-day international matches are particularly costly. For example, the cheapest tickets for the final game between India and South Africa at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai this month are on sale for Rs 1000, which works out at a hefty 11% of the average monthly income.
It's the same story at the IPL. It may be the world's most successful T20 league but it's also the most expensive to watch. Business executives and celebrities may get their seats in the hospitality boxes for free, but for ordinary fans, the cheapest IPL tickets are generally around Rs 600, or approximately 7% of the average monthly income. Again, Australian fans do much better and can get into Big Bash League games for as little as A$20.
Of course, the cost of the ticket is only part of the story. You may pay a high price for your ticket but what you get in return for your money is just as important. Sadly, when it comes to the in-stadium experience, Indian fans also get a terrible deal.
That's not to say that the experience of watching cricket in England or Australia doesn't come with certain irritations. The price of food and drink offered to a captive audience in English grounds often borders on the extortionate, and the widespread drinking that occurs at venues in both countries can also be an issue. Cricketers and journalists may enjoy the colourful spectacle produced by the mass consumption of alcohol, but they don't have to endure it up close for seven or eight hours at a time.
Still, these are relatively minor complaints. In general, English and Australian stadiums are well organised, clean and properly maintained. Spectators get a clear view of the pitch and the stewarding and security are, in the main, effective without being oppressive. There have also been serious attempts in recent years to improve access and facilities for disabled spectators, and while there is much more that can be done on this front, it is certainly the case that English and Australian grounds are more welcoming places for disabled fans now than they were 20 or 30 years ago.
All of this is in marked contrast to the experience of Indian fans, who in addition to paying higher ticket prices than their English and Australian counterparts often have to endure multiple indignities and inconveniences. For a start, finding out where to obtain your ticket is a challenge in itself. Online sales can be sporadic and unreliable, and buying from the ground often means turning up in hope rather than expectation, as the local cricket associations responsible for selling tickets don't always advertise effectively.
The poor organisation at a lot of Indian grounds means that spectators often have to spend hours queuing before they get in. Once inside, they are herded into poorly maintained stadiums, where they have to sit unprotected from the blazing heat for hours at a time. Toilet facilities are usually minimal or non-existent and the ordinary fan is generally treated like a potential troublemaker rather than a paying customer.
The low esteem in which Indian cricket authorities hold the stadium-going fan is starkly illustrated by the use of fences along the boundary edge at some grounds, which make the stands look like cages and the spectators like prisoners awaiting trial. It is reminiscent of the dark days of English football in the 1980s, when fans also had to watch their sport from behind bars - treatment that no modern spectator should have to tolerate.
There is one area of cricket where fans from all three nations definitely get a good deal, and that's the domestic game. In contrast to the high cost of watching international cricket in England, all counties offer season-long memberships, and for around £200 you can guarantee seats at every home game for a side in all three domestic competitions. In Australia, entrance to Sheffield Shield games is as little as $5, and in India, admission to Ranji Trophy games is free.
But even the most fervent fan can't attend every match. Most will watch the majority of their cricket on television, and here is where English fans are particularly disadvantaged. English cricket used to be available on free-to-air television, and in 2005, Test match audiences peaked at an average of 2.5 million, but the sale of the broadcast rights to Sky has dramatically changed the experience of English fans. It now costs around £600 for an annual subscription that lets you watch all of England's home games - the equivalent of paying to attend a one-day international every month, a price that is beyond the pockets of many.
This hasn't been allowed to happen in India, where despite the proliferation of cable and satellite television providers, and an array of competing sports packages, Indian home games (at least limited-overs ones) can also be viewed on terrestrial channels. It's the same in Australia, where Channel Nine broadcasts home internationals on free-to-air television, and Cricket Australia even provides for free online coverage of Sheffield Shield games.
It seems, then, that Australian fans have the best deal, benefiting from cheap match tickets and free television coverage, while it's debatable whether English or Indian fans have it worse. Fans in England can't see their national team on free-to-air television and have to fork out for expensive seats in small stadiums, but while Indian fans can catch their team on television for free, they have to pay even more for their tickets and their match-day experience is far worse than those of their English or Australian counterparts.
This discrepancy in costs and in the ways fans of different nations are treated is largely a consequence of decisions made by their boards. The BCCI has become a hugely profitable organisation, but clearly not enough money has been invested in making the cricket-watching experience of the ordinary Indian fan less unpleasant.
The ECB, meanwhile, has been content to continue to stage international fixtures in small venues, charging premium prices that are out of the reach of poorer families. They have shown little interest in investing in bigger stadiums which might enable them to reduce ticket prices and thus attract a wider, younger and more diverse audience.
With large stadiums, modest entry-level ticket prices and free-to-air coverage, Australian cricket has taken a different path, and Cricket Australia appears to be trying to make it as easy as possible for as many people as possible to watch cricket. It remains to be seen whether this model will prove successful in the long run, but it seems clear that for the ordinary fan, Australia is the best of the three big cricket nations in which to watch cricket.
But perhaps you disagree. The voice of the cricket fan on subjects like these is not heard often enough and whether you watch your cricket in England, India or Australia, or one of the other cricket nations, we'd like you to get in touch with your opinion on the cost of watching cricket, and whether you think the modern fan gets a good or a bad deal.