Good news for cricket fans

[Thunder Bolt]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/40455556



English international and domestic cricket will be shown live on BBC TV for the first time in 21 years from 2020.

 

[Titanic]

What happened to the £1bn TV rights deal for this T20 circus?

 

[Easy 10]

No Test cricket though ?

 

[Brovion]

It's only good news if they cover it properly, i.e not breaking off every hour for news bulletins or whatever (which is what they were doing before they lost the rightst)

 

[Triggaaar]

Good news for cricket fans

They're going to change the rules to make the game basically the same as football?

 

[Carrot Cruncher]

What happened to the £1bn TV rights deal for this T20 circus?

Presumably, most of that is the overseas market.

 

[Carrot Cruncher]

No Test cricket though ?

Nope. We do get womens cricket though. Whoopee...

 

[Easy 10]

Nope. We do get womens cricket though. Whoopee...

Um...yay

That'll draw in the viewers.

 

[Carrot Cruncher]

Um...yay

That'll draw in the viewers.

You'd think every game was being played at the MCG to full houses the way that the BBC craps on about it.

 

[Notters]

Um...yay

That'll draw in the viewers.

And Southampton v Birmingham or whatever other nonsense, assuming that's what the new T20 competition is? I would rather the BBC didn't get involved in that travesty.

 

[Easy 10]

You'd think every game was being played at the MCG to full houses the way that the BBC craps on about it.

Indeed.

I have nothing against women playing the game obviously, but as a spectacle, I just cannot see how it can possibly justify hours of live coverage on national television. You might as well show live potholing from the Peak District, it wouldn't draw in any fewer viewers than womens cricket.

What gives ?

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Indeed.

I have nothing against women playing the game obviously, but as a spectacle, I just cannot see how it can possibly justify hours of live coverage on national television. You might as well show live potholing from the Peak District, it wouldn't draw in any fewer viewers than womens cricket.

What gives ?

The ECC wants to enhance the game and prize money for Women's cricket. The winning team of the current WC will get $660K. This is surely subsidised by the TV contracts for the mens game as I can't believe there is a massive queue of broadcasters and sponsors. I get what they are trying to do but I just don't see who the market is and the drive to reduce the pay gap will end in tears.

Women's European golf gives an example of where this can go. They have cancelled a load of events this year because no-one is really interested with the top golfers on no more than 50K a year.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

And Southampton v Birmingham or whatever other nonsense, assuming that's what the new T20 competition is? I would rather the BBC didn't get involved in that travesty.

Quite.
That hyped-up garbage has no place on the BBC.

 

[Eeyore]

Quite.
That hyped-up garbage has no place on the BBC.

It's not for me, although it will be interesting to see how it works. It very much relies on pulling in big names. 'Supporting' a franchise would be rather pointless as they change with the wind.

I'm Sussex and Sussex only. And I would fight for other counties to retain their identity too.

 

[Eeyore]

Actually, looking at the details, there is very little to celebrate. No Test matches.

 

[Mackenzie]

I won't be supporting franchise cricket, I believe that the ECB has misjudged the public appetite for such a competition.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I won't be supporting franchise cricket, I believe that the ECB has misjudged the public appetite for such a competition.

They've got it badly wrong. It works in Australia because there are only a few major cities and they are miles apart but in England that doesn't apply. Take Lancashire. This contains, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston and Blackpool amongst other places. Immediately, you alienate all of those other places if you call a franchise the Manchester pill droppers or the Liverpool bin dippers. It's misguided and wrong but the powers that be don't get it.

No-one in Sussex will have any interest in a team in South London or Hampshire. Their only hope is if kids want to go and watch Chris Gayle or the like smash it out of the ground to a Little mix sound track.

 

[Mackenzie]

They've got it badly wrong. It works in Australia because there are only a few major cities and they are miles apart but in England that doesn't apply. Take Lancashire. This contains, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston and Blackpool amongst other places. Immediately, you alienate all of those other places if you call a franchise the Manchester pill droppers or the Liverpool bin dippers. It's misguided and wrong but the powers that be don't get it.

No-one in Sussex will have any interest in a team in South London or Hampshire. Their only hope is if kids want to go and watch Chris Gayle or the like smash it out of the ground to a Little mix sound track.

Perhaps that is the target audience, the monster truck generation.

 

[Gwylan]

The ECC wants to enhance the game and prize money for Women's cricket. The winning team of the current WC will get $660K. This is surely subsidised by the TV contracts for the mens game as I can't believe there is a massive queue of broadcasters and sponsors. I get what they are trying to do but I just don't see who the market is and the drive to reduce the pay gap will end in tears.

I think you'd be surprised - the Women's Big Bash in Australia attracts around 400k viewers, that's a healthy audience in a population of 20m

The game's catching on over here too.I went to the one-day international at Hove in 2015 and that was a sellout (and we weren't the only big crowd). It's clearly not going to match the men's game but they're not playing to two men and a dog.

 

[Easy 10]

I think you'd be surprised - the Women's Big Bash in Australia attracts around 400k viewers, that's a healthy audience in a population of 20m

The game's catching on over here too.I went to the one-day international at Hove in 2015 and that was a sellout (and we weren't the only big crowd). It's clearly not going to match the men's game but they're not playing to two men and a dog.

Dunno about TV numbers, but the womens Kia Super League final last year drew just over 1,300 spectators. This from the Guardian

Attendances were modest, culminating in a disappointing 1,353 for the final at Chelmsford, a ground that has established itself as a fortress for the England Women but felt more like an upscaled family barbecue, with friends and families of the three teams taking part – Western Storm, Loughborough Lightning and the eventual winners, Southern Vipers, led by Edwards – accounting for most of that figure.

I've been trying to find the attendance figures for the Womens World Cup games this year, but drawn a blank. They don't seem to be quoting crowd numbers.