Howzat!
English cricket – it's on the rise, people are becoming interested again, the national team are winning, Twenty20 has revitalised the domestic game and from 2006 only those people with Sky will be able to watch it live.

Genius.

Only the ECB could find a way of screwing up the most promising climate for expanding the cricketing fanbase for years. By restricting live coverage to Sky only those people who are established cricket followers will be able to watch. Gone will be the chance for bored children, or adults, to channel hop on to it and discover the delights of watching maiden overs bowled, or boundaries struck.

What this means for the future of the game, only time will tell, but it strikes me that the ECB have (once again) managed to shoot themselves in the foot when they had the chance to really raise the profile of the national game. They've taken the money and run, which is all well and good in the short term, but isn’t going to inspire the next generation of Andrew Flintoff's or Steve Harmison's to take up the game, and that is a disaster.

I thought the government had pledged to keep home test matches on terrestrial television? Or is that just another example of empty rhetoric from our leaders?

- posted by Paul @ 9:55 am