Cricket story by Dominic Taylor, Thu, 02 Feb 2006 03:00:00 GMT


LONDON - The Culture, Media and Sport Committee has said that all England cricket fans should have the right to watch cricket on television for free. The MPs argued by the ECB had erred by giving the exclusive rights to BSkyB and that a repeat of the sensational summer of "Ashes fever" was not possible in this scenario.

But the committee also said that there was "no compelling force" to return the sport to the so-called A-list days when it was free to air. ECB said that the deal with BSkyB would ensure that the sport was not starved of funds, "ECB thanks the committee for recognizing that there is no appetite to return to the 'days when cricket was starved of funds'," it said in a statement.

"ECB share the committee's wish that the broadcasters will take up the challenge and ensure that future broadcasting income to cricket is maintained and that broadcasters will choose to free up schedules to broadcast both home and away live international cricket."

The MPs also found fault with BBC and ITV for failing to bid for the telecast rights. It was in 1998 that Chris Smith, who was the Culture Secretary at that time had taken cricket off the A-list with a supposed gentleman's agreement that "substantial proportion" of live test matches would be broadcast free to viewers.

The MPs committee came down heavily on this "gentleman's agreement" and said that to an extent the government was also culpable in allowing private broadcasters to rule the roost. "The cricket board want to maximize the money coming into the spot but they also have to take account of the interest of millions of fans,” said Conservative MP John Whittingdale, the committee chairman.

"In the previous deal there was a mix - some live cricket on Sky and the rest on Channel Four - and what we want to see is that mix continue." Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell defended the ECB and said that it was right to maximize the sports' potential, "It's hard to challenge the fact that much of the game's recent success is attributable to the ECB's investment of money from its TV rights," she said.

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