The ECB the biggest disgrace in this country....

[n1 gull]

...the world cup last year, Zimbabwe this year and now they sell off cricket on terrestrial tv.
They are everything that is wrong with this country. Old wanke*rs destroying a sport for a short term financial gain.
Not only will our kids not watch live cricket, but what about all the old boys, who ironically were the only ones that supported county cricket, they're buggered as well.
My old man is well into his 70's and loves his cricket. He can't work the bloody video, let alone get Sky. He now has no bloody access to watching cricket.
Its nothing short of a fu*king disgrace, but hey the good news is the boat race is still on ITV - what the f*ck is that about. I'm truly gutted. I thought the government was ring fencing certain sporting events?
The pleasure the cricket brought millions has been taken away for a quick few quid, I hope they rot in hell..

ECB = evil old men.
When no kids play the game in a few years time, I will remember why. Idiots.

 

[Juan Albion]

Good points well made, I'd say.

 

[Dover]

Scandulous!

Some of the finest days at work is when the male patents are watching Channel 4's cricket coverage. Many of them enter into livley but polite banter.

 

[Superseagull]

More money for the old men in blazers who fall asleep in the members pavillion. More money for Sky from sponsers and subscriptions. Less interest in cricket from the general public. Well done ECB. Another nail in the coffin for English cricket.

 

[lost in london]

agree with all the above.

 

[The Large One]

The ECB area bunch of greedy short-sighted, short-termist sell-out shites.

They made a statement that this is good for cricket. Is it f***. It's good for a small majority, like their sponsors, but not the 'grass roots'. How are they going to benefit? I wouldn't trust those fuckers to open a can of beans that was already open.

Cricket will suffer BADLY as a result of this. This is borne out by the fact that you can receive BBC in Holland. When the BBC lost the Test Match rights to Channel 4 (which you can't get in Holland), interest cricket in cricket took a SERIOUS dip. 45 minutes of highlights on Channel 5? That's a f***ing joke.

It's interesting that the BBC messageboard has gone into meltdown over this, and that the ECB website has temporarily closed down. I haven't seen one positive message about this decision. They are a bunch of wankers who don't give a shit about anything except a quick profit.

This is a brainless decision, and the dickheads at the ECB should be twatted with their own cricket bats.

 

[Brovion]

I know I'm in a minority of one but I disagree. All this "It's the death of English" cricket is I think a bit of an exagerration. Rugby League is shown almost exclusively on Sky and despite fears that it would collapse it's still going strong. The Premier League hardly suffers with live matches only on Sky. I HATED C4's coverage because on Saturday's they used to share it with Racing. Good Riddance to it, besides all true Cricket fans listen to Test Matches on the radio anyway!

As an aside I don't know the details of the deal but is it only Test Matches? If so can the BBC show county games? Maybe a bit of coverage for that will increase interest

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

A sport that has decided to live on the margins.

A minority sport from now on. Well they can go eff themselves.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Brovian - do you have sky perchance.

Rugby League - is was and always will be a minority sport. Cricket was a national sport - that has let itself be shoved to the margins - and has now embraced the fact.

 

[Brovion]

Brovian - do you have sky perchance.
.

I do indeed, and as I said on the other thread from a purely selfish level I'm pleased as it means I can now watch it on Saturday afternoons. However I still don't think it's the National Disaster some people are saying - although I would agree that the BBC is the best place for it with Sky second.

 

[Man of Harveys]

What a tragedy - and to think that cricket competed with football in the national sporting conscious during much of the 1980s. Imagine that now! And from now on, watch its prominence plummet to somewhere below that of hockey. The beauty and format, not to mention fanbase of the great game deserves better than the useless bunch of vegetative posh fucknuts who happen to be its administrators in this country.

 

[Pevenseagull]

there was some pommous PRAT from the ECB on R5 live just now 'justifying' this

summary of his reasoning:

C4's test coverage (much of which is weekday daytimes) attracts circa 700,000 viewers.
Sunday afternoon premiership games attract about 1,000,000.

Therefore no one will be missing out

WANKER

the R5 presented kept pointing out that this was utter bullshit but the Durham CCC, ECB kept stonewalling him with the verbal equivalent of Chris Tavare eeking out 4 runs an hour with a array of forward defensive shots.

I was disappointed when test cricket left BBC TV but my disappointment quickly evaporated when I saw the quality of C4s coverage - it's the best thing on TV, Simon Hughes' analysis has done as much to increase my interest and enjoyment in cricket as Jonners avuncular broadcasts did a decade or more before

This move wil:

reduce the opportunity for youngsters to develop a love for the game
deprive many pensioners of access to cricket in the summer (my grandfathers used to watch the entire summer series but would not have been able to afford SKY)

I can well see SKY wanting more one day and 20-20 international cricket once they're in the driving seat

The quality of the coverage will fall (if anyone wants to dispute this please note: arrangements are in place for CHANNEL 5 to carry a primetime highlights programme)

I'm distraught

 

[Pavilionaire]

Personally, I think C4's cricket coverage is the best of the lot, but Sky isn't bad.

It's sad that a smaller audience means less kids watching, so a potentially worse England team in years to come.

The really bad thing is that it is the latest in a long line of poor decisions (Zimbabwe 2004, Zimbabwe 2003, retaining the archaic 18 counties system, etc).

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

sell outs

 

[Pevenseagull]

Following unanimous ratification from the ECB Management Board, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced the results of cricket's next broadcasting rights negotiations covering international and county cricket in the years 2006-2009.

The new agreements guarantee wide accessibility to cricket across a number of media platforms and they secure the future of cricket from playground to Test arena.

The ECB announced that Sky Sports will gain exclusive rights to the live broadcast of all home international and domestic cricket in England and Wales, while Five has gained the rights to show highlights of home international cricket on prime time television - action from every day's play, apart from day/night games, will be shown at the peak time evening slot of 7.15pm-8.00pm.

BBC Radio retains its exclusive radio commentary rights to all home international cricket as well as the non-exclusive rights to cover domestic county cricket.


The Wireless Group, owners of TalkSPORT, have been awarded the non-exclusive rights to provide live commentary of Twenty20 Cup matches.

The ECB is also in negotiations for the worldwide mobile wireless rights to all international cricket. The ECB retains the broadband rights to its matches.

Cricket followers, therefore, will in future be able to view cricket action via a wider variety of platforms than ever before - on cable, satellite and terrestrial television, commercial and non-commercial radio, via the mobile and on the internet.

These commercial deals will bring a total of up to £220m to cricket over the four year period, an increase of up to 10% in real terms on equivalent deals struck from 2002-2005.

The major international touring teams during the years of the contract are Sri Lanka and Pakistan (2006), India and West Indies (2007), Zimbabwe and South Africa (2008), New Zealand and Australia (2009).


David Morgan and Clive Leach at the Lord's press conference David Morgan, ECB Chairman, said: "This is a very good deal for cricket. We have guaranteed a wide accessibility to cricket across a number of media platforms and have financially secured the future of the game.

"We have guaranteed uninterrupted ball-by-ball coverage of all international cricket, coverage which will not be restricted by other scheduling pressures. This will be on Sky Sports with its fast growing subscriber base.


"We have also ensured more convenient and consistent access to cricket for many people on terrestrial TV by guaranteeing the broadcast of highlights from 7.15-8.00pm.

"This is when an average of 21 million watch TV, compared to an average of 5-11 million people from 11am-5pm, and is the most popular time for children to watch television during the day.

“The ECB Management Board would like to thank Channel 4 for their excellent coverage of cricket and support of the game. We are, of course, looking forward to continuing our partnership with them next year with their coverage of the Ashes series.


"On radio, Test Match Special remains a key element of cricket's broadcast strategy and our strong partnership with BBC Radio will continue to give cricket excellent exposure through their variety of networks. And we welcome TalkSPORT as a partner to help us expand the appeal of the Twenty20 Cup.

"Our mobile rights agreement, when concluded, will allow people to access information, pictures and highlights of the cricket via their mobile phones, which is becoming increasingly popular especially amongst young people.

"The financial element to the deal guarantees cricket's future development as it allows the ECB to continue to develop the game with confidence, securing the funds needed to continue building a successful England team and to continue nurturing the grass roots of the sport."

John Pickup, Chairman of the Recreational Forum, said: "Cricket's recreational game should welcome this deal. It was the best possible package on offer.


"Grass roots cricket needs funding to thrive and this deal will see funding to the recreational game increase, while other options would have led to a significant decrease in support.

"Yes, it is a shame that live cricket will not be on terrestrial TV but it would also be a shame if the number of coaches, competitions and development initiatives were significantly cut as well.

"The excellent highlights deal will deliver strong terrestrial coverage and the grass roots of the sport will continue to grow."

If you want to send us your comments - please email feedback@ecb.co.uk

 

[CHAPPERS]

I cannot believe anyone can think this is anything but a tradegy for cricket in this country. Absolutely terrible.

Goobye Benaud, Nicholas, Hughes, Athers.

Goodbye English cricket as we wish we knew it.

 

[Pevenseagull]

"We have also ensured more convenient and consistent access to cricket for many people on terrestrial TV by guaranteeing the broadcast of highlights from 7.15-8.00pm.

"This is when an average of 21 million watch TV, compared to an average of 5-11 million people from 11am-5pm, and is the most popular time for children to watch television during the day.

thanks for conveniently trimming down a whole day of test cricket into 45 mins for me (30mins of content once the adverts and titles are taken into account), thanks for putting it on when the soaps are on - that won't cause any dispute in my household

 

[CHAPPERS]

How can something that seems so small make me feel so bad?

 

[Trigger]

No More Richie Benaud?...

 

[CHAPPERS]

Goodbye Richie.....