Cricket must benefit from this triumph

The morning after the triumph before, and all the talk was about how to build on England’s extraordinary Cricket World Cup victory in order to underpin the future of the game. The superlatives flowed after what was arguably the greatest limited-overs match ever, and certainly the most compelling. The spectacle was more widely watched than it might otherwise have been because the game was broadcast by Channel 4, even though the entire tournament until that point had been live only on Sky Sports.

One question being asked, therefore, is whether international cricket, at least the World Cup and the Ashes, should be on free-to-air television as part of the so-called “crown jewels” of protected sports. Live coverage of Test matches played in England was removed from the list of sporting events reserved for terrestrial TV some 20 years ago by the Labour government. Subscription broadcasters are allowed to bid for exclusive rights, provided there are satisfactory arrangements for secondary coverage by a terrestrial outlet.

When the Ashes start later this month, the matches will be aired on Sky, with highlights on Channel 5. The 2005 Test series, which was then on Channel 4, was among the most watched sports events of recent times and is credited with boosting the game’s profile. However, even though the loss of the sport to pay TV means many youngsters who might have watched cricket no longer do, the money pumped in by Sky has helped produce a world-conquering international team.

Unless the BBC or Channel 4 are prepared to match the staggering sums paid out by the pay-tv broadcasters, there is little incentive to go back. The counties, no longer able to rely on revenue at the gate, need the money, as does the national team, to stop players spending all their time earning a fortune in the lucrative Indian leagues.

The ECB is investing more than £770 million over the next five years but the danger is that so-called “white ball” cricket will become even more dominant than it is already. The cricket authorities, always looking to make the game “more accessible”, are preparing to launch an inter-city 100-ball franchise competition next year partly broadcast on free-to-air TV, in addition to the existing county-based T20 Blast tournaments.

Perhaps all these innovations will secure the future of cricket, but it will not be the same game that has endured for the past 250 years.