Liverpool FC Forum

[Owzat]

SIGN THE PETITION FOR FREE-TO-AIR TEST CRICKET

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Test-Cricket/

Expires 23/11, those cricket fans among you who have more than one e-mail address don't forget to sign up your brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, cats, dogs and goldfish. It does ask for your postcode, but I have relatives who work for the government and I can confirm .gov.uk is official government server so they have your address details already!

[The Ace1983]

i signed it. I prefer the commentry team on sky but i do miss Richie and the C4 team. And things like England test cricket, Wimbledon, Six Nations Rugby and the FA cup should always be free to view.

[CardinalRed]

I understand where you're coming from with this one but I don't agree with the deeper implications.... Each event mentioned comes under the auspices of a particular organisation, ie: Wimbledon = The All England LTA, this is a company who rightly want to get the most out of their event financially.... Imagine you owned a business and were told by the Government that you could only sell your product to certain customers..... That's Communism if I'm not mistaken! That is effectively what this petition is asking for and I think it's a dangerous precedent The people who go to these events in person have to pay so the companies automatically reckon that anyone else who wants to see their product should pay too...... That's capitalism for you, right or wrong.
We cannot have the Government controlling the direction that companies take in that way surely?


                                                               

[The Ace1983]

Ok, I see your point of view as well. Think of it like this. George Gillett and Tom Hicks own Liverpool, right? They made the investment and therefore they can do to the club whatever they like because, thank God we live in a free country and a free market and Liverpool is now their possession. For instance, they could make the team wear Blue shirts and relocate to London if they wanted to, right? Technically its possible. There would be uproar, possible rioting, burning effigies and scandal, but it's they own the club and under the freedom of possessions act, as long as they aren't hurting anyone, then they can do as they wish. But they would be hurting people. Half of the city and fans around the country, perhaps even the world would be outraged and upset. Some people dedicate their lives to a team, forfeiting things like love and freindship. All those tattoos, memories, children's names and everything else. So one must conclude that though a chairman or owner "OWNS" the club, they do not own it in totallity because without the support of the fans the club would be worthless. If you are a business, without customers you are nothing.

With this in mind we can assess the problem at hand without throwing words like Communism around. The truth about it is that the old left/right political model is obsolete these days anyway and the ideas associated with them are now all over the place. Wimbledon is perhaps not the best example because if you look down the LTA top boys then you might note that most of them have some sort of previous association with the BBC and the old boys network is still at large.

Let us instead refocus on the cricket. The argument for is that cricket, the most english of english games, should be available for all to watch and not those who pay the high prices for sky TV. Against it is the idea of free market policy and the rights of the business association that is the ECB to make as much money as they can. Now apply the fans/owners dimension to the argument and quite frankly one enters a minefield. There is no clear cut yes or no here. The majority's pleasure or the propriator's profits. If one follows the law then we have to side with the ECB, but laws are in place to protect and provide for the majority and if they are not doing that, should they be changed? But would any change affect the majority in more negative ways than positive ways, and to what extent? If one plays the politician then one would be crippled by caution. The notion that the more you know, the more you can do is often a falicy due to the fact that with each piece of the puzzle, the picture begins to fade away or grow larger. If one plays the sophist, one could be employed by either side. What would be crucial, a piece of fact rather than knowledge, would be viewing figures for Sky, C4 and the highlight shows on five. Knowing what these are would tell us whether or not people who do not have sky are desperate to watch cricket live.

As for my decision to sign this petition, i often find myself siding with the majority because, as Abraham Lincoln once postulated, you can please all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but never all of the people all of the time. Therefore, I would rather see the majority happy for as long as possible. And think of it this way: If more people watch, surely the ECB can demand more from sponsorship, lift ticket prices and continue to improve the standard of Englsh cricket (something that perhaps hasn't happened since Sky took over broadcasting after the 2005 Ashes series).

The government would never do anything that would seem to be "communist" and therefore, this petition is unlikely to succeed on this grounding, and afterall, communism didn't work so where would the advantage be? But, they will be able to guage the opinion of the British as to whether cricket is important to them or not. And I guarentee that someone from the ECB will be watching this petition with interest, which means that they will understand the level of desire of people and the true popularity of cricket in this country, meaning that when the media contract renewals come around, they might consider the many great business benefits (and sporting benefits for that matter) of awarding a terestrial station the rights to air.

Furthermore, as I mentioned previously, Channel 4 were fantastic in their coverage of cricket and, aside from employing Geoff Boycott, have never put a foot wrong in this area. Top class all the way.

ps. sorry for the spelling errors, but i can't be bothered to check this over.