Cricket once had ‘game’.
Man, I stayed up into the night to please that fickle spirit - and once followed those brave souls around the world (via radio 4 long wave) to catch the muse. I was called an anorak - and I wore that name as a badge of pride. (Still do, if I'm honest)
Now the sport stands accused of “marrying the 'spirit of the age' ” rather than staying put with her former soulmate.
Good G_D Almighty.
Why am I saying this ?
Because of this...
And to think that I had a go at the BBC for not bidding.
I apologise unreservedly if this story is even half-true...
...for the Corporation would have been entirely correct not to contribute a penny of the TV licence fee money towards this set-up.
I am angry at myself for half-believing the hype. But even at its worst, the Beeb does have some standards left. They did very well to distance themselves from this ‘situation’ that English cricket finds itself in right now.
{note to reader: it's like watching a once-attractive - if formerly rather prim - married woman making a total fool of herself over not ONE, but TWO unsuitable men whilst her erstwhile (and rather boring) husband shakes his head and waits patiently for his wife, this 'stupid woman' (quote unquote) to come to her senses and return home to the children before they all end up playing football}
For if the Antiguan crusade succeeds, all well and good for the players and 'West Indian' (should really read Caribbean) cricket.
But if the November night tryst at twenty hours for $20 million falls flat, cricket in England - and maybe in the ‘WIndies’ too - may well find itself a ‘widow’ in the digital age - and ClearBlue might eventually tire of this bruised, haughty little ‘game’ as its summer companion...
...polo anyone?
R•I•P Terrestrial Coverage of Cricket in the United Kingdom.
Much loved (even when interrupted for the 3:30 at Catterick) and missed
(NB - I am NOT referring to the players - I am glad that they can earn decent money - but to the higher-level administrators who have put the game on a platter and served it up to Mammon - big time. These guys have stitched up the game - and also themselves. This will not endear the sport to those children who no longer play. What bargaining power do the E-Z Beez have now? Do they have a ‘plan B’?)
(NBB - title is a misquote from the late (and missed) Archbishop of Cantebury, Dr Runcie - who in turn took it from the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, W.R. Inge - here is a best copy taken from “Between Two Worlds” by Dr John Stott. This quote is fashionable again, clichéd, but still true - and not just for ecclesiastical matters...)
(NBB - I'm not turning into a Torygraph reader, am I? Please say no...)