Posted by An ECB statement describes how they’re going to try and persuade the government that the Ashes should remain on subscription TV.
“In the coming weeks we will set out to them the hugely detrimental impact the panel’s recommendations would have on our successful community projects as well as the potential impact on international cricket, the England teams and the county game.”
Note what would feel the impact. ‘Community projects’ would come first, then international cricket, then the county game.
Currently, the ECB’s spending is £12 million on grassroots cricket, £17 million on England and £38 million on the counties. You’d think that maybe a reduction in income would come out of the ECB’s costlier outgoings, but no, those figures represent priorities, so in reality all the grassroots money would go before a penny of the spending on county cricket was withdrawn.
The ECB quote above is worded as if the Government are going to kill grassroots cricket, yet it’s the ECB who are in charge of where the money goes.
If there were a fierce drought, the ECB would conserve drinking water by killing all of their children so that they could continue watering the geraniums. Then they would accuse the water board of murder.
Similar deliveries:
Ashes on free TV could mean four counties going bankrupt
No Ashes on Sky means no money for English cricket
EPL: counties or regions?
County cricket is dying and poverty-stricken and if something isn’t done soon the counties won’t even have enough money to tempt the world’s finest cricketers to renounce their international careers any more
I thought we had decided that we were going to halve the number of counties and double the spending on grassroots cricket.
Do the ECB not read this blog?
Does this make me 10, 001 then?
Ged’s ‘firm cover‘ was 10,000.
Do you think there might be a link between the ECB’s priority list and the method by which all of the ECB executives get and keep their jobs?
Oh you couldn’t have that. That would create a situation whereby those in charge of the game wouldn’t necessarily act in its best interests.
No-one would stand for that.
I think I see the confusion here. It occurs in the phrase “The best interests of the game.”
To you and me, “the game” means some combination of the local cricket played on the weekend, the international team, and the county game.
However, to the chairman of Leicestershire County Cricket Club, “the game” means, er, Leicestershire County Cricket Club. So “acting in the best interests of the game” means exactly the same thing as “acting in the best interests of Leicestershire County Cricket Club”.
So, Clarky is in fact acting in the best interests of the game, so long as you allow the people who vote for him to define the word “game”. Trebles all round.
Oh, and I forgot to say, self-serving, out-of-touch, lard-arsed wankers the lot of them.
I’m so proud to have been posting 10,000. My cover got even firmer in the excitement when I read the news.
What’s my prize?
Your prize is the standard King Cricket prize.
When might I expect it to arrive, KC?
In fact, I’m not sure you have my IRL postal address – shouldn’t we be arranging all of that in the background?