Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland could see something was clearly wrong as he stared out at the MCG on Friday.

Two of the best sides in the world were in action on a perfect day, but empty seats abounded at the nation’s sporting colosseum.

“This is not a good crowd and it’s not something we’re terribly happy about,” Sutherland admitted.

“We would have hoped for a few more.”

Many different reasons have been floated for the sparse crowds on offer for the first stages of a marathon 2014-15 season that ends with the World Cup final in March.

It could be the fact games are being played in November, perhaps it’s fans saving their money and attention for the tournament Australia co-hosts next year.

Ticket prices have also been criticised, while some have questioned why the white-ball action has been squeezed in before the four-Test series against India.

Sutherland, previously relatively upbeat about the modest attendances for the limited-overs series between Australia and South Africa, vowed CA would find answers.

“We need to understand a little bit more. It’s an unconventional time of the year for us to be playing (in Australia), but at the same time there’s a lot more to it,” he said.

“We’ll do our own assessments.

“I don’t think it’s an overload issue … I’d be very, very surprised if this is a ticket-price issue.

“But I don’t want to be caught providing specific reasons without us doing our own research to properly understand it, which we will.”

Friday was the third time the MCG hosted a one-day international in November, with the two previous games pulling in an average of 19,990 fans.

Sutherland conceded the World Cup had tied CA’s hands when it came to scheduling.

“We are sacrificing Test cricket a little bit, only playing four Tests instead of the traditional six,” he said.

“Part of that is about providing our players with the best possible preparation leading up to the World Cup.”

Over 500,000 tickets to the World Cup have been sold already, while an average audience of 1.3 million has watched each game in the ongoing series.

LIMITED OVERS CROWDS FOR AUSTRALIA V SOUTH AFRICA:

*26,370 at Adelaide Oval for T20

*21,415 at MCG for T20

*24,187 at ANZ Stadium for T20

*9322 and 10,956 at the WACA Ground for ODIs

*10,583 at Manuka Oval for ODI

PREVIOUS ODIS AT MCG IN NOVEMBER:

*19,309 for Sri Lanka v Australia in 2010

*20,671 for Pakistan v Australia in 1981.