da bet sport： We asked you for your reaction to the news that the ECB had awarded BSkyB exclusive rights to cover live cricket for four years from 2006
da betcris： 15-Dec-2004We asked you for your reaction to the news that the ECB had awarded BSkyB exclusive rights to cover live cricket for four years from 2006. We were inundated with your thoughts, and about 80% of those who responded came out against the decision to remove the rights from terrestrial TV. Here’s a representative sample – please keep them coming to feedback:
Mark Nicholas: Channel 4’s anchor on the way out?© Getty Images
“A final blow by what must be the worst ever leadership of the ECB. To say that coverage will be improved is total nonesense, when will Morgan and his poodle resign?” Derek Buxton”I have Sky Sports, so things won’t change for me, yet the Sky deal is another example of how the English county chairmen prioritise their counties at the expense of the game – without which their counties are kaput anyway. The Durhamchairman’s quotation is amazingly arrogant – is cricket supposed to be a rich person’s indulgence or a national sport?” Dave Trim”The loss of live cricket to terrestrial TV is another nail in the coffin of English Cricket. It is hard enough for the Clubs to compete with other sports to attract the youth to the game. It will be even harder now. Especially when the less well off will, maybe, never see cricket on TV.” Mark Blundell”Apart from everything else, the deal is financially naive. There is little doubt that ending live terrestrial coverage means there will be no future bids from that quarter. So the difference in the amount of money secured from the Sky contract has to represent the value of a stream of future options to negotiate with parties other than Sky. The ECB did not get enough for those options.” Jeremy Stone”A disgrace … who cares about the future of cricket? Just keep on making bloody money.” Ali Khan”English Cricket RIP – Died of greed” Joe”The ECB have made a huge mistake. I am 17 and like many younger people they have taken away our right to watch cricket for free. This will seriously harm the future of cricket as the most important people for the game can not watch. Disgraceful.” Steve Bailey”By 2010 young children under 10 won’t even know what cricket is.” Andy Cole”This is worst thing that could have ever happened to English cricket. The ECB have shown that they really aren’t bothered about the grass roots.” Neil Foster”£20million more than Channel 4, but next time round, when no-one else bids, Sky will get it at a bargain price and the money won’t be there for investment. Short-sighted in the extreme.” Gordon Millar”I would rather slit my own throat than give Mr Murdoch a single penny.” Michael McNamee”After enduring year after year of interruption from horse racing and other aspects on the BBC and Channel 4, it is refreshing that Sky should be safe-keeping the game. Where else am I going to get cricket overnight and then throughout the day?” David Brown”I cannot get Channel Five where I live. How am I supposed to watch cricket? Why did they give the highlights package to a terrestrial channel with about 80% coverage?” Tom Foster”This decision may well prove to be the final nail in the coffin of an already struggling sport. I am a teacher in a high school in Worcestershire, and even with the present levels of coverage the number of pupils interested in cricket in our school is less than 50 out of 1000. I recently had a quiz which included a picture of Michael Vaughan, and not a single student in my Year Ten class knew who he was … everybody knew David Beckham. This short-term greed for long-term pain will destroy the game in the UK. The TV then won’t be interested and the sponsers will wither away, and then it will be on a par with netball and hockey.” Kabir”I think it’s excellent that Sky have won the rights to all home internationals, their coverage is far better than Channel 4. C4 haven’t been fully committed to English cricket over the last few years, their highlights show was dreadful, and if you wanted to watch it you either had to stay up until midnight or record it.” Paul Buxton”At weekends in our cricket club the principal reason our juniors stay in the afternoon is because they can watch the Test on our TV – and we cannot afford aSky public licence. We can now look forward to the prospect of losing the interest of our juniors, who will be going home after practice to watch on Sky. Their relationship to the club and our ability to convert them into senior players will be massively diminished, with obvious consequences for our survival prospects. This is no doubt what Mr Morgan means by “protecting the grass roots”.” Ben Humpage”No matter how much cricket had been drilled into me by my father, I wouldn’t be a watcher/player/coach now if those Test matches hadn’t been freely available on terrestrial television.” John Holland”The Sky deal gives a financial platform for the governing body to really move forward with the development of the game. Sky have consistently delivered high-quality coverage and they will become the home of cricket on TV. I am delighted.” Pete Kalhan”What price loyalty to the armchair public who have already been priced out of attending Tests and One-day internationals?” Avtar Barhey”Madness! They have just reduced the potential number of recruits from non-cricketing schools by 90%.” Ger Siggins”The ECB have taken cricket away from the majority of the population at a time when the national side is resurgent and the chances of attracting new people to the game at their highest.” Robb Fraser”Sky brought great coverage, and also the exposure to different continents and cultures – something the BBC did. Satellite coverage of sport is the future, and will save the game of cricket in the UK and internationally.” Greg Reid”A huge disaster, and deeply short-sighted. Channel 4 have had a huge impact on the quality of cricket coverage – it’s accessible, fun and a window on the game. With a quality England team with one of the world’s best bowlers, English cricket is enjoying a renaissance – banishing it to Sky would be a crying shame.” Simon Appleby”The money-hungry counties are clearly happy to suckle from the teat of the ECB and have no intention of getting their houses in order financially. The culture of reliance may have been partially eradicated among the England Test team but it still exists amongst the greedy little panjandrums of the ECB.” Charles Tindsley”I presume the county chairmen are rubbing their hands at the prospect of signing legions of Kolpak players on the proceeds.” Ian Sherwin”Sky receiving all the rights to the cricket is the way to go. Look at what they have done for football in the UK. They have deeper pockets to invest and it can only make it more attractive to the youngsters – which is better for the game at all levels. Sky is seen as cool and trendy, whereas terrestrial is still seen as a bit slow and behind the times.” Pritesh Kotecha”I think the Sky deal is ridiculous. It works with football and rugby, as you can go to the pub for a couple of hours to see a game, but you can hardly stay there for five days to watch an entire Test match.” Rohan Ardley
