The Ashes: the contradictions of cricket & capitalism
The final Ashes Test of the summer starts today at the Oval. According to the Telegraph the Five Test Ashes series has been played over the shortest number of days ever.
Certainly the toll of nearly back to back five day games has taken its toll on the players and many others who support the matches. Back in the day an Ashes summer would include Tests and a number of County games for the tourists, ending with a final game at the Oval not in late July but in late August.
The Ashes is a Test series that is commercially successful. In a world of short form cricket that is unusual. You might think the ECB would want to maximise that. However it has a contract to maximise The Hundred which runs in August. Its an unwanted tournament (for the men’s game) that has however hugely boosted the women’s game (that was not the intention). Ticket sales are apparently the best ever. I suspect mostly to watch the women.
The ECB are no good at capitalism but if they were they’d run the women’s game in the evenings and relegate the mostly dull to dreadful men’s games to the afternoons
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