Cricket on Sky

Think he wants Ballance and Rafiq back playing in the Barnsley league. Not sure to be honest.

 

Just got home after a 12 hour afters shift and read this thread.

**** me I might go back to work.

Will to live is lost.

 

2005 was the best time of my life. My mates and I had just turned 18, nowt to do until uni except a bit of part time work and watch and play cricket, We'd sit in the Walkabout drinking cold beers watching the games, listening to Richie Benaud. I'd give nearly anything to live through that again. If I get old and suffer from Alzheimer's I will leave instructions that I am to do nothing but watch those games over and over. I can't tell you the last time I watched an England game.

 

Hahahahahahaha......... hahahahahahahaha...... hahahahahahaha

 

I saw surreys accounts for last season and their revenue was down by about £2m. (approx. £12-14m) Membership revenues fell and their revenues from international matches rose. So if there had been rain at the test, revenue would've been much more notably. Take out the T20 which is getting fuller year on year, and crowds are pretty non existent.

I also spoke with their sponsorship manager at a networking event, and after the usual pitches, they shared that getting sponsorship deals was getting much harder and they were considering reducing prices or introducing more package bundles.

 

Shocking, wasn't it. Remember when we had to make up our own minds about how people had played?

Probably why your so annoyed about us not having a YouTube channel. No consensus to ascribe to.

 

The Ashes in 2005 was unbelievable. I'm not even big on Cricket but I was watching every ball as a kid, so was everyone else. A few of my mates who started playing more regularly then still play.

That fall in viewing figures is shocking and will be terrible for the sport. Horrible to see F1 go to Sky too, I'm literally never going to watch it again and that's sad.


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I can give an opinion. When watching the cricket I often will say I think they need x y or z. On a Sunday when I'm at my grans they often say you've just said that because quite often I will mention something then the commentators will say it 5 mins later.

But it's also great to listen to them and what they think. Why wouldn't it be anything than good to ear what Atherton or Hussain or Lloyd think?

 

Laker and Benaud? How could they possibly have had any knowledge of cricket having not had

My god you're clearly a genius!
Talk about an overblown sense of self importance!

 

I love to listening to Bumble, it reminds me of listening to my Grandad, and I think while he can be a bit dry, Atherton knows what he's on about. ******* hate Rob Key with a passion though. Don't think I've ever heard him sounds like he know what he's talking about.

But the point of this thread was how Sky having the broadcasting rights will eventually kill the game, as the figures mentioned prove...


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There are several things that are disappointing in this day and age.

That averageness is glorified as being the stuff of legend. Additional coverage and micro analysing doesn't make it better, it just shows more of it. Looking at the world game now, it's full of averageness. Identikit overcoached players with insanely huge bats that can mistime a 6 and it sail 10 rows back.

Balls that have little seam, pitches that are pancakes. Slow paceless wickets.

Long gone are the likes of Hadlee, Marshall, Gavaskar, Khan, Botham. a wonderful time in cricket and visible to anyone. Watching those games on BBC2 and the old replays in the many rain breaks inspired me to the point of obsession and having trials with Yorkshire. Sadly I chose academics rather than a very marginal chance to then earn an anorexic salary for 3 months of the year.

Today, our culture is a ready meal. Cheap, instant, abundant and in the long term not good for us, and infinitely makes us lazier.

That goes for sport too.

 

A mate has just sent me a link to a sory put out by the Mil about cricket, and how although it's Sky and BT battling out for the rights to the matches(for £1b over 5 years), they too admit the sport needs some terrestrial coverage to improve participation, which in turn will make sure THEY have viewers for their cricket coverage in the future.

The important bit was:

"It is understood both Sky and BT accept that cricket needs terrestrial coverage if it is to increase participation. So while more money will come in from a dedicated free-to-air package, that will not greatly affect the big money offers for the rest.

When all media money is combined, it is not unrealistic for the ECB to hope for around £175m per year for their properties, including the new T20 competition — not far off the £1billion over five years which seemed unobtainable at the start of the process."

If that is the way the ECB go(having the big matches behind a paywall, and smaller matches and the domestic T20 on Free to air), then thats fair enough to me. It will allow new and lapsed fans to catch some cricket on F2A TV and thats the important thing...



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cr...set-scoop-1billion-bonanza.html#ixzz4kiaExqm8
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Well put.

For what it's worth, the three test series' that I have the strongest memories of are the 1981 and 2005 Ashes, but also the 1984 "Blackwash" series when the West Indies gave us an absolute towelling. Still the greatest side I've ever seen, fearless, powerful and elegant. Just as the English batsmen had seen off Garner and Holding, along came Marshall and Walsh. The names from those teams roll off the tongue - Haynes, Greenidge, Gomes, Harper, Dujon, Richards and so on and I'm sure this is due to the wide exposure the game had, up,to 05.

The paradox now is that as exposure has increased in terms of more televised games, the less 'we' see of them. They players might be making money, but they're not making memories for the likes of me. I reckon I could hold a long detailed conversation over a pint with most people with a slight interest in sport about the 81, 84 and 05 series, but I'd struggle to string two sentences together about anything in the last 10 years or so.



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That West Indies bowling attack would destroy every single International team around if it was playing today. During the 84 series, I don't think a single English batsmen ever felt "in". It was scary! It's also heartbreaking to see how far they have dropped in terms of player quality at Test and 50 over level, which is a direct consequence of falling participation numbers.

 

Remember the Old Trafford test very well. Me and my Dad had got into cricket the previous winter when we were in South Africa as he was off sick and I was in school holidays. Then the ODIs that led up to the Ashes were fantastic then the Ashes themselves were unbelievable. My Dad managed to get us some tickets off eBay for the Saturday of the Old Trafford test which was both our first ever game and it pissed it down all day but for 20 minutes play where Warne and Gillespie didn't get out. We then went back on the Monday morning for the final day, queueing all the way into Manchester to get there and see thousands of people in queues everywhere to get in I've never seen anything like it. We then decided to turn round and drive back listening to it on the radio until we got back. I even remember the ice cream man coming round at about 6.30 and he even asked how the cricket had finished, literally everyone was into cricket that year and I've loved it ever since. Nothing will ever beat that summer of cricket for me it was unbelievable.


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Its one of the disappointing things now that there is a genuine lack of world class bowlers. For just about every generation there have been some bowlers to fear.

Even fairly recently. But you look now and ask who is there to be scared of?

Australia.... nobody. New Zealand, some decent grafters, but nobody frightening. South Africa, same issue with Steyn being the last of the true fast bowlers. Then Windies, nothing. Sri Lanka, nothing. India... nothing. Then maybe Amir (for all his sins) with Pakistan is the only talent out there,

Broad and Anderson are as good as it gets. But that's not because they are outstanding (though Anderson on his day is one of the best genuine swing bowlers that's been around), just that there is such an absence of bowling talent.

 

Aussies have a few but keep getting injured, we have Wood and Rabada for SA is seriously special.


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You'd put yourself in against Mitchell Starc???

I bloody well wouldn't

 

I think you should apply to be a sky sports cricket pundit as you have all the right credentials and so much experience and knowledge.

 

I'm talking world class, fast or talented bowlers.

There's nobody close in world cricket to the pace of Roberts, Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh, Holding, Garner, Donald, Johnson, Waqar, Wasim, Lee. Or the accuracy of Hadlee or McGrath. And so on.

And the same can be said of spinners. We seem to have a lull in the calibre of bowlers at this time. Whether that's the pancake pitches and the baseball like slogfest that's going on, or if its just a lack of players coming through.

Starc gets a bit of movement, but he swings it so much from the hand he's easy to play, doesn't get that much bounce for a tall guy either. So yes, i'd gladly face him all day every day.