22-05-2018, 02:14
To be honest, my feelings are very mixed:
1. Part of what's strangling fresh interest in cricket among kids is television broadcasting of the sport being limited to Sky. The deal with this new comp from day one was to have a certain number of matches shown on terrestrial TV, preferably BBC or Channel Four, to gain as wide an audience as possible and explain the absolute basics of the game (including rules like LBW and the general terminology) to a new generation. I think that's absolutely the right move. Joe Clarke at Worcestershire mentioned in an interview last year that he'd never watched cricket in his life until he was ten, because his family didn't have Sky Sports; then he caught the 2005 Ashes on Channel Four, became obsessed, and within the next couple of years he may well be batting for England. In the Big Bash in Australia they've had huge success with the free broadcasting, backed up by little features like "Backyard Legends" where they invite people on social media to send in footage of themselves playing cricket in the garden or the park, taking spectacular catches, etc. Yeah, it's insanely gimmicky, but it's working, and a lot of Aussie kids are putting down the Xbox controller and picking up a cricket bat as a result. That's the positive.
2. But the negative... for the life of me, I can't see why they couldn't just stick to doing it as T20. Yeah, it's a nice thought that they're trying to protect the existing T20 Blast, which is a solid earner for smaller counties, but the whole thing reeks of some marketing bloke on a six-figure salary pointing at a chart on which the words UNIQUE SELLING POINT have been written and underlined in black marker. Newsflash: the competition doesn't need a unique selling point, because it's not going head-to-head with the IPL or Big Bash. It could quite easily stand on its own two legs if they let it, but instead they're taking the gamble of trying to fix something that ain't broke.
1. Part of what's strangling fresh interest in cricket among kids is television broadcasting of the sport being limited to Sky. The deal with this new comp from day one was to have a certain number of matches shown on terrestrial TV, preferably BBC or Channel Four, to gain as wide an audience as possible and explain the absolute basics of the game (including rules like LBW and the general terminology) to a new generation. I think that's absolutely the right move. Joe Clarke at Worcestershire mentioned in an interview last year that he'd never watched cricket in his life until he was ten, because his family didn't have Sky Sports; then he caught the 2005 Ashes on Channel Four, became obsessed, and within the next couple of years he may well be batting for England. In the Big Bash in Australia they've had huge success with the free broadcasting, backed up by little features like "Backyard Legends" where they invite people on social media to send in footage of themselves playing cricket in the garden or the park, taking spectacular catches, etc. Yeah, it's insanely gimmicky, but it's working, and a lot of Aussie kids are putting down the Xbox controller and picking up a cricket bat as a result. That's the positive.
2. But the negative... for the life of me, I can't see why they couldn't just stick to doing it as T20. Yeah, it's a nice thought that they're trying to protect the existing T20 Blast, which is a solid earner for smaller counties, but the whole thing reeks of some marketing bloke on a six-figure salary pointing at a chart on which the words UNIQUE SELLING POINT have been written and underlined in black marker. Newsflash: the competition doesn't need a unique selling point, because it's not going head-to-head with the IPL or Big Bash. It could quite easily stand on its own two legs if they let it, but instead they're taking the gamble of trying to fix something that ain't broke.
"I would rather spend a holiday in Tuscany than in the Black Country, but if I were compelled to choose between living in West Bromwich or Florence, I should make straight for West Bromwich." - J.B. Priestley