There remains the possibility that the cricket world cup in England will be a success. In fact, to the thousands of cricket fans, pretty well whatever happens, will love it. However, I’d regard success in rather different terms. And after yesterday’s pitiful opening ceremony in front of a few hundred bedraggled fans in the Mall (the one in London, not Cribbs Causeway), it is hard to see how it will capture the soul of the nation.
Since Sky acquired the rights to all domestic cricket coverage in 2005, the game has seen an alarming decline. Participation levels are in freefall, with only the large middle class clubs in the ‘Burbs still thriving. Not only that, state schools barely play the game, meaning generally only the middle and upper classes, usually from the private schools, have a pathway to succeed. And whilst there are still many thousands of fans who attend games and watch Sky’s coverage, it no longer feels like our national summer game.
I hear the enthusiasm of England’s cricket’s administrators as they hope a home world cup will arrest and even reverse the game’s decline. I don’t think they’ve got a prayer.
You cannot knock Sky’s coverage, or the money they have put into the game. Many clubs have benefited from the generosity of Sky’s subscribers. Getting people interested in watching is a different thing. When cricket was on the BBC, and indeed Channel Four, audiences would be counted in the millions. The players were household names.Now they are barely household names in their own households.
Today’s opener between England and South Africa is, doubtless, a good game to watch. Personally, I could not care less. Where I used to know most of the county players in cricket, I can barely name half the current England team and would struggle to identify them, either. And I used to be a real fan. Cricket needs new players and new spectators. If cricket is not on free to air television, where will they come from?
There will be chatter on social networks from the already converted. The vast majority of the public who couldn’t care less about the world cup will not be converted because the sport has chosen to hide behind a paywall.
The world cup and the Ashes in the same year. Never had there been such a proliferation of great cricket. But never has has such a great opportunity to spread the game been so recklessly squandered.
