Test Match Special’s fight to keep Ashes
THERE is considerable concern at the BBC about the possibility of losing Test Match Special coverage of the Ashes to talkSPORT this winter.
The Beeb giving up ball-by-ball commentary would be a major blow for cricket purists, especially as the Corporation have not screened live Test cricket since 1998. BBC Radio has filled the void with considerable success.
Test Match Special celebrates its 60th birthday this year and Ashes cricket in Australia has been part of the service since 1971.
But talkSPORT, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, will challenge the BBC strongly during the imminent tender.
And the fear at Broadcasting House is that talkSPORT now have deeper pockets, as they showed when they easily outbid the BBC for Lions rugby coverage this summer.
One glimmer of hope for the BBC is that Cricket Australia have waited so long to auction the radio contract — the TV deal with BT Sport was done a year ago — leaving talkSPORT little time to find sponsorship before the first Test in November.
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HUGHES, who divides opinion as a TV cricket analyst and editor of magazine The Cricketer, finished with a first-class batting average of 11. Yet the former Middlesex bowler (right) was somehow chosen by the MCC to talk the Duke of Edinburgh through the increasing weight of bats at the Warner Stand opening. Hughes pondered on social media whether his Lord’s masterclass had been the final straw for Prince Philip, who retired from public life the next day. One would like to think so. SHEIK SALMAN’S Asian Football Confederation voters got their own back on Australia yesterday for supporting rival Gianni Infantino in the FIFA presidential election. Aussie Moya Dodd, a global leader in women’s football, lost out to little-known Bangladeshi Mahfuza Akhter for the AFC woman’s slot on the FIFA Council. Asian football were also suspicious of Dodd’s independent voice and didn’t want Eastern Asia to hold another influential position.
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intensity of working for taskmaster England rugby coach Eddie Jones has seen Tim Percival quit as communications manager after just two Six Nations Championships. Percival, nicknamed ‘Jumpy’ by Jones early in their partnership, is said to be leaving on amicable terms to pursue less stressful job opportunities.