Prior to the last home Ashes series there was a growing debate as to the merits of a return for cricket to terrestrial television with the placing of the Ashes on the Government’s “listed events” in an effort to raise the profile of the game. To date cricket is the only major sport that has no Category A listings which is hard to fathom. Despite being a Sky customer for many years – although
I loathe Sky’s myopic obsession with all things football – I agree. Admittedly, the coverage afforded to cricket by Sky over many years has been fantastic and remains so. Surely though, there has to be a way to get the nation greater access to cricket even if the BBC and its commercial rivals appear unable to match Sky’s deep pockets?
Spin or Scaremongering?
On the last winter tour by England of South Africa, Jonathan Agnew, the BBC commentator interviewed the ECB Chairman Giles Clarke, on Test Match Special. Clarke had the gall to suggest that, without the Sky TV money, the club game would simply disappear. This was a ridiculous claim to make and woeful from someone at the top of the game’s establishment; after all, how had the clubs survived for the hundred plus years before the Sky deal? At best it was scaremongering, at worst it was simply demonstrating a clear ignorance of recreational cricket clouded by Clarke’s real concern – Team England being deprived of its significant funding advantage over other test playing nations.
The dash for cash (note the acceleration of the Ashes series this year and yet more traditions cast aside in the pursuit of money) is also inextricably linked to Sky’s need for ever more cricket to fill the summer schedules deprived of football…well, at least for a few weeks. Consider the madness of recent seasons chasing the Twenty-Twenty golden goose until it too, is slowly strangled to death by short-sighted greed. True fans get lost by the plethora of meaningless cricket on television designed only to accommodate the Sky Gods; sadly, much of it is simply sub standard fare. And with so many counties having to invest massively simply to stay on the international fixture list, if the Sky money is so critical, where is it really all going?
A New Way Forward?
Perhaps cricket’s administrators lack a bit of confidence at the negotiating table in the shadow of the football juggernaut? It is, however, a key part of Sky’s offering all year round so I do not believe that brokering a harder deal with Sky to return some degree of international cricket to terrestrial television need be devastating to the ECB coffers. Sky (as does the BBC) has many free to air channels and they should be sufficiently confident in the overall excellence of their coverage; arguably, they could actually gain subscribers rather than lose out here. I made the suggestion first in my book “A Critics’ Corner” in 2010 so it was pleasing to see the following piece in Private Eye (August 2012).
“The Olympics have suggested another way forward. If the BBC can find 24 digital channels for sport now, why not just one for the rest of the year? The corporation has been consistently outbid for everything Sky wanted and obviously does not want to lose face by having nothing to show other than international tiddlywinks from Trondheim. But Sky’s sporting hegemony has done irreparable damage to some of the sports it has bought. Rugby league and cricket are but two whose souls have been chewed up and spat out again.
A sport whose administrators could see beyond the warm glow of short-term cash might realise that free-to-air coverage, for a smaller fee, might actually be more effective in the longer term than wholesale surrender to Sky. A dedicated BBC sporting channel, branded and marketed as such, would therefore be the very definition of public service television.”
Now it is fair to point out that Private Eye is no fan of Mr Murdoch’s empire but the point is well made and I would not give up my Sky subscription just because some cricket was returned to the free to air channels. Look how cricket now compares to other national sports. Football has Match of the Day and some cup competitions are available on terrestrial. Rugby’s Six Nations, the ultimate showcase for the game, remains a protected event and even Rugby League, still a regional game, has more coverage than cricket. Very soon darts will have a bigger profile.
Short Term Greed or the Good of the Game
Sky pays a king’s ransom for cricket but perhaps the ECB remains blinded by the flow of money, oblivious to the real custodians of the game. How are we to showcase the game of cricket to those who have never seen it on free to air television? There may be in excess of 10m sky customers now but the viewing figures for the last Ashes triumph were pitiful. With cricket almost non-existent in the state school sector there is a real danger of the game falling out of sight of future generations.
So let me make some suggestions to help Mr Clarke next time he meets up with Sky? Firstly, perhaps Sky and the BBC could share the evening session from the home test matches allowing families to watch some “proper” cricket at the end of the day? Secondly, use Twenty-Twenty as a way to show this television styled format of the game to a wider audience as well, perhaps by sharing some of the group stages? What can Sky lose? More importantly, how can the ECB continue with the current lack of visibility?
Cricket clearly faces problems in future years of remaining a mass participation sport. In recognition of this grave issue the ECB itself launched the Chance to Shine scheme in 2006/7, designed to re-introduce cricket to primary schools. After five years of Chance to Shine it was estimated that one million kids had been reached through some 3,000 state schools but given there are around 27,000 state schools it’s clearly a huge game of catch up. And if the majority of these kids cannot watch the game on television then what point?
By resurrecting the visibility of the game to new generations we will allow them to fall in love with this great game as we were fortunate enough to do so. The current situation is squeezing the life out of cricket, driven by greed that benefits only the elite minority. And should you like a good conspiracy theory please bear in mind that Mr Murdoch is, of course, an Aussie!
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