ACT government's Twenty20 World Cup vision was correct

But will we be singing a similar tune when the FIFA Women's World Cup rolls around next year? Or will there be non-buyer's remorse?

It's become pretty clear ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr's decision not to throw the chequebook in the ring for T20 World Cup games was the right call.

Crowds have been poor and Aussie interest seemingly even worse.

Games involving cricket-mad India's proved the clear exception to the rule with 82,507 turning up to the MCG to watch them play Zimbabwe.

A game involving Virat Kohli's team would have sold out Manuka in minutes as the light-blue army descended on Canberra.

But the nation's lack of World Cup interest was perhaps exemplified by Australia allrounder Glenn Maxwell's almost-apathetic declaration they'd already moved on from their World Cup exit minutes after it happened.

Barr instead targeted the Australia-England pre-tournament tune-up games to get some international content at Manuka Oval.

He's sick of paying overs for games involving minnows in the big tournaments and instead wanted to bring the national team to Canberra.

At first glance it might seem like the crowd of just 4953 for the first of these games - the second was a washout - was a poor turn-up and pointed to it being the wrong call.

But at the semi-final stage of the World Cup it's become clear that's not the case.

About 5300 turned up in total to two separate games in Hobart in an indication of what sort of matches Manuka might've hosted - Sri Lanka v Ireland and Bangladesh v Netherlands.

Just 8405 went to England-Afghanistan at the 60,000-seat stadium in Perth.

Makes the turn-up at Manuka seem pretty good, given the torrential rain that was falling on the territory at the time.

Especially since the T20 World Cup hasn't captured Australia's imagination.

The Aussies' start clearly didn't help - a humiliation at the hands of New Zealand that all-but-ended their hopes of progressing to the knockout rounds.

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It could also be the time of year, with the football hangover still fresh in the nation's minds.

Or it could be T20 still hasn't captured the country as an international spectacle.

But it could be a different story come July next year when one of the world's biggest shows comes to Australia. The women's soccer World Cup.

Not only will no games be played in Canberra, but it won't even be a training base for any of the 32 teams who have qualified.

Soccer's called the world game for a reason, with thousands of fans of the women's game expected to descend Down Under for the month-long tournament.

Crowd averages have been more than 21,000 over the past six editions - held in the USA, China, Germany, Canada and France - showing the appetite to travel to games was there.

That would diminish the likelihood of poor crowds involving the minnow nations.

Canberrans have also shown their hunger for women's soccer through their support of Canberra United in the A-League Women.

It would've been a massive boost for the female game in the capital and a boost to the economy as well.

It's why next year's World Cup seems like an opportunity missed, while the one currently on a good one to miss.

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