Do the people of Leeds deserve a good team?

What was the average gate at Elland Road last season? Somewhere around 18,000 in a stadium with a capacity of 39,000? Shocking.

Of course, those looking for excuses blame Bates, Warnock and extortionate prices. So what happened when GFH Capital came in, Warnock was sacked and prices were slashed? The stadium remained half empty!

Now the nation has been embarrassed by appallingly poor attendances at Headingly for the test match with New Zealand. The Ashes battles at Lords and the Oval were sold out ages ago - I have my ticket for the Saturday at Lords - but there were wide open spaces on the terraces at Headingly yesterday and the crowd is even smaller today, despite the tight Tykes reducing prices for kids to a fiver.

Shame on the Mums and Dads of Leeds! Every child in the city should be at the ground today enjoying a day of international sport, especially given the success of Bairstow and Root, both of whom have batted today.

Don't give me crap about cricket being boring, only if you lack the mental capacity to understand the game. Who knows, there could be a kid hanging around with glue sniffing mates on a Leeds estate today who might have had a career in international sport had their parents been as responsible as Joe Root's!

We have precious few opportunities to witness great sportsmen "in the flesh". I am lucky enough to have seen Moore, Hurst, Peters, Giles, Eddie Gray, Brooking, Tevez, Lampard, Sobers, Warne, Tendulkar, Dravid, Boycott, Waugh, Lara, McGrath, Botham, Gooch, Gower, Cook and many, many others thanks to my Dad engendering a passion for sport in me at a young age. If Leeds can't muster a full house for a bank holiday test featuring two young home grown stars, you have to wonder if the city deserves to host test matches or a Premiership football team.