"What's this?", I casually enquired to my
12-year-old son. "My cricket scenes picture," he replied, as if I
should have worked that out easily. Glancing at his drawing, I had a few more
questions.
"How has Mum scored 201* off of 171 balls?"
"How did our rabbit (Derek) dismiss me for a golden
duck?"
"How did Derek take 7/22, seeing as he's, well, a
rabbit?"
"And, are you ok?"
To be honest, I knew the answer to the last question. You
see, this is exactly the kind of thing I would have done at his age. Locate the
Ladybird book of cricket in our house and you will spot the front over with
"Cricket is skill" scribbled on it; I did this in the mid-80s. As my
wife often says - with a pained expression on her face - "He's a mini version
of you".
From a very young age he has been into his cricket. That
is the bonus of growing up in a house where your parents can just about afford
the Sky subscription and are prepared to pay it. Watching cricket with me
whetted his appetite, and since 2015 we have been regulars at home and away T20
matches following Northamptonshire. He also went to his first Test at Lord's in
2015, as England defeated New Zealand.
All this waffle is basically a foundation for the rest of
my piece; my concerns for cricket in the UK with regards to the next generation. With the
World Cup currently being contested on our shores, this has brought the problem
to my attention in an alarming way.
My son loves his cricket and is obviously drowning in the
Sky coverage of the tournament. Hence the cricket scenes masterpiece. But this got
me thinking about the thousands of young children up and down the country who
are denied the chance to discover just how brilliant the sport is.
Cricket on free to air television enabled me to stumble
into a relationship with the sport in 1985. But if the equivalent of Sky had
existed back then, there is a strong chance cricket would have passed me by.
This shouldn't be the case.
The World Cup should be available on terrestrial
television (is it still called that?). Think of how many children could be
enthralled by some of the big hitting, stunning catches, flashing bails, and
general razzmatazz of the tournament. Opportunities like this don't come along
very often.
It saddens me that the current England team could be
slipping under the radar. A superb set of players, they might not win the World Cup, but
what better way to attract kids to the game than through this exciting side?
Take the Afghanistan match. Eoin Morgan's 17 sixes in his
thrilling 148 might have happened when most of us were at work or school, but
at least everyone could enjoy the highlights on Channel 4. What time could the
family settle down to witness Morgan's record-breaking antics? 11.05pm. Well
done, everyone.
It isn't just the future I'm worried about. Consider the
casual fan in all this. My parents have been watching matches on Sky, and my
mum said she's surprised about how exciting it is. My mum really doesn't like
cricket, and now she's shocking me with mad statements like this.
Sporting tournaments like this should be shared by the
nation. Think of the feelgood factor created by the football World Cup last
year. At a time when we could all do with a bit of escapism, jumping aboard the
England team bandwagon seems appealing. But some haven't been invited to the
party.
There is nothing we can do about it now. But this really
does feel like a missed chance to promote cricket in this country. And with the
Ashes following the World Cup, it is the ideal summer to fall in love with
the sport.
I'm not knocking Sky; they have invested millions in
covering cricket, and their coverage is excellent and extensive. It's the powers
that be need to take a look at the situation, and ponder if potential fans
being deprived of cricket coverage is sensible.
Rant over. I'm off to bowl some chin music at my son after his cruel assessment of my cricketing abilities.
