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Here’s a gilt-edged opportunity to get discarded. Giles Clarke can’t give us live cricket on free to air TV; Lalit Modi can.
Pretty much ever since the format first appeared, we’ve been saying that having live Twenty20 matches on terrestrial TV at 8pm on a Friday night would help cricket more than all the funding and marketing that the sport’s benefited from in the last 20 years. For all the money and pizazz, this is basically the secret behind the IPL’s success.
Having matches on TV at a predictable time in the evening allows people to sit home with a few beers and a couple of friends and have a great night. If the tournament is easy to follow, so much the better. If it feels like an event, better still.
Now admittedly, 8pm on mainstream TV is not exactly 2.30pm on ITV4 on a weekday, but it’s a damn sight better than nowt. If we were a student, we’d be over the frigging moon that there was some sort of major sporting event happening that we could watch EVERY DAY for the next few weeks. We’d well get into it.
The first match is 2.30pm tomorrow (Friday) and it’s Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders.
ITV have trumpeted the acquisition of Simon Hughes for the “expert analysis” and he’s also trumpeted by the Beeb for the Bangla tests. Other guest experts are still to be appointed. Ronnie Irani??
are they doing highlights?
actually i don’t care. it’s only the IPL.
Available online as well so I can watch it during work
It may only be IPL but its probably still better than doing work!
that should be the tagline.
If this is the case please add ‘the’ before IPL. I would hate to be considered an illiterate!
http://www.cricinfo.com/ipl2010/content/image/451552.html?object=418064;page=1
don’t look into his eyes.
Nice Cricinfo stuff KC.
I wish i was still a student.
Good for pensioners as well as students. I wonder if the ad breaks will be full of stairlifts and walk-in baths as per on weekday afternoons.
I don’t have Sky. Was watching the footy last night – the IPL advert was on. At least the uninitiated will know that India plays cricket outside of ‘the Ashes’ then – yippeee!
Just seems so bizarre that there is not one single TV program – not so much as a round up show for domestic English cricket. In fact it just made me want to cry.
English T20 was just made for free to air – how could the ECB invent it and get it so tragically wrong? And yet there is going to be ‘live’ action all the way from India for Indian taste Bollywood cricket. [The cricket will be fine – I just can’t take Modi surrounded by white glamour cheerleaders]
Whatever you think of the IPL and T20 cricket the adds make it look more interesting than snooker – which the BBC is quite happy to broadcast.
“I’d like to work from home this Friday boss, really need to get on top of that report without all the distractions in the office”
I’ve just watched 10mins of it, then decided i’d much rather watch the cycling on Eurosport.