Joe Root and Yorkshire CCC v Jimmy Anderson and Lancashire CCC in front of sparse crowd is a worrying sign

The breakdown was as follows: on day one, 1,706 were present; on day two, 1,677; on day three, 1,645; on day four, 511.

Considering that Yorkshire versus Lancashire is the biggest rivalry in county cricket, and considering that the greatest English batsman and bowler of their generation were making rare County Championship appearances in the shape of Joe Root and James Anderson, the numbers were striking.

Normally, one would expect crowds of 2,000-plus for a day of Championship cricket in Leeds and plenty more for a Roses game, although day four crowds are traditionally on the thin side given that there is often less play if a match is well advanced.

Had the fixture been played at Scarborough, where attempts to stage the Roses in 2020 and 2021 fell foul of Covid, one would not have been surprised had 5,539 turned out on the first day alone.

Championship crowds are traditionally strong at North Marine Road, of course, given that it stages only two four-day games each season and has tremendous appeal as a setting/location, and there is perhaps the view that whereas people would still turn up to watch any opponent at Scarborough, they might not necessarily be inclined to do so at Leeds – in other words, Lancashire should be a guaranteed draw whatever the venue.

Although the previous Yorkshire regime had indicated a willingness to try to make it third time lucky this summer by taking Roses cricket back to Scarborough, events at Headingley in the winter rather scuppered that ambition.

There had been predictions of 7,000-plus crowds, in fact, at a Scarborough ground where the Roses has not been staged since 1991, with every game subsequently held at Headingley or Old Trafford barring one match at Aigburth in 2011 when development work was taking place in Manchester.

So, why the apathy? How come only 5,539 turned out to watch the Roses contest, many of whom probably came to more than one day’s play (in other words, the individual head count would have been much lower)?

That figure, for what it’s worth, was less than the average attendance of 17 of the 24 football clubs in League One during the season just finished.

Well, the “winter effect”, so to speak, had to be a factor.

People have been disillusioned by the racism crisis at Yorkshire, be that what was said to have taken place and their unhappiness with that; or the fact that they had a different view on the subject and questioned the accepted narrative (I would have to include myself in that number); the mass sackings that followed and how they were carried out, and so on.

It would be disingenuous to say it has had no effect whatsoever, and for all those who welcome the “clean slate”, so to speak, a number do not and will not be going back.

But there are other reasons.

The cricket, by and large, has been pretty dull this year.

We are only halfway through May and yet there have been 22 totals of 400-plus in Division One, including 13 over 500 and three over 600, along with 18 individual innings of 150 or above, including five double centuries. There have been 11 double hundreds across the two divisions, whereas last year there were eight across the entire season.

In short, bat has dominated ball on flat pitches prepared in almost exclusively dry weather, pitches which seem to have less grass and which have offered little or nothing for spinners.

Those in the know say that the balls have been going softer and are not swinging as much, and combine all that with a ridiculous schedule (Yorkshire have played five Championship games in as many weeks with another to follow on Thursday), and there are some pretty tired as well as pretty ineffective bowlers sagging in the shires.

Dazzling totals, alas, can make for some pretty dull games, and the cricket has not been of the kind to get the crowds rushing in.

Less emphasis by the powers-that-be on pampering to the needs of Team England, perhaps, as opposed to prioritising and entertaining the paying public, might be a help.

There are other factors.

More people are watching the county live streams, excellent as they are; the cost of living is prohibitive; there are only so many things you can spend your money on; many people have to work during the week, and so on.

But an aggregate Roses crowd of 5,539 suggests that something, somewhere, is clearly not right.