The impact of the Cricket World Cup: a measure beyond the ken of the ECB
In 2020 the body that runs cricket in England and Wales plans to introduce a new 100 ball competition (which will be shown on free to air TV) in an effort to promote interest in the game.
One might think that holding the Cricket World Cup in England and Wales this summer, the first it has been staged here for 20 years, would do that. Did it?
Debate has raged. While every match was carried on the BBC’s Test Match Special radio commentary every game except the final was shown on Sky pay-TV. Audiences were thought to be around a million, compared to well over ten million for the free to air Women’s Football World Cup.
Its true that particularly as England got to the final coverage on the sports pages was significant. There were also fan zones for some of the time in most of the locations were matches were played.
The test as it were is what impact screening the final free to air has. One would hope it was huge and very much bad news for the pay to view obsessed ECB who run cricket.
The game itself was thrilling and got huge coverage, partly no doubt because it was the first free to air game for some years. Viewing figures on free to air Channel 4 look to have been a little under 5 million, though that doesn’t include screens in pubs, mobile devices etc
I watched in a pub in Tottenham (the Beehive) and while interest early was not huge by the end the whole pub was transfixed cheering on England
Living in central Tottenham it may surprise some that weekday rush hours aside the streets are usually fairly clear of traffic and street games takes place, usually mostly school students. Often its football but this week I noticed street tennis. Wimbledon of course was on free to air TV. I’ll be watching (when I’m around) to see if street cricket games take place. That’s a measure of the impact or not of the Cricket World Cup.
Meanwhile of course the ECB, ideologically wedded to pay TV and Sky still with its one-dimensional Murdoch era executives in place plan no free to air coverage at all of one of the biggest contests in cricket, the Ashes which starts in Birmingham on 1st August.
Perhaps political intervention is required.
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