Thorpster has a rant at the ICC, the Dubai Dough Trouserers, and sports bodies in general putting television money and other stuff before the needs of the genuine sports fan. The scheduling of the ICC T20 in Sri Lanka, slap bang in the middle of their rainy season is madness, and I have to agree with him...
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Is this the future? |
This week as the build up began to the World T20 in Sri
Lanka, I started hearing some worrying comments regarding the possibility of
the bi-annual international thrash being ruined by rain. A few prophets of
doom were telling us in the various pre tournament previews (of course inferior
to The Middle Stump's) to expect more of a T10 than 20 due to the ICC's
"crazy" decision to schedule this event in Sri Lanka slap bang in the
middle of the rainy season.
I had a go at watching the two big games on Saturday, the
hosts v the Saffas and Windies V Australia only for my worst fears to be
proven. After I had given up on the first game I read online that it came down
to a 7 over bash, whilst the 2nd game was cut short after 9 overs of the
Aussies run chase. When asked about the meal at the recent PCA awards dinner by
David Gower, Mike Gatting bemoaned the small portions, but I fear in cricketing
terms that is what we will see over the next few weeks.
I have also been dismayed by some of the crowds so far
but not really surprised as yet again organisers have priced the local cricket
enthusiasts out of the market.
The problem lies not only with cricket but with all major
sporting events. Sport has sold out to TV and sponsors and as ever in the world
T20 fans are last on the list of the organisers priorities. The one major event
that got it right was the London Olympics/paralympics 2012. As Lord Seb Coe
said at the opening ceremony "when its our time, we'll do it right"
and he did. Tickets were priced to guarantee full stands and even when the
corporate monkeys failed to leave their hotel suites in the early stages
leaving embarrassingly empty areas, Seb and "Coe" did what was needed
to fill the gaps (like Ryan Giggs).
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Coe...got it right |
The ultimate example of the law of the brown envelope
dictating scheduling major events was the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022
Fifa world cups. For both 2018 and 2022 the best bids (England and Australia
respectively) got the lowest amount of bids. Meanwhile the worst bids
technically from Russia and Qatar got the most votes and were awarded hosting
rights, I wonder why? Did anyone seriously think it had anything to do with
factors other than who offered the biggest bung? The night before the big vote
an army of Harry Redknapp type characters were milling around the various
meeting rooms explaining the "benefits" of their countries bid and the
incentives for voting for them. So what do we end up with? A tournament in the
worlds 2nd best sport played in a tiny Emirate state in June in 50 plus
celsius. That would be crazy for the worlds summer sport but football? And this
despite the bid being branded dangerous for this very reason. What about the
fans so desperate to attend, who will be faced with absolutely ridiculous costs
to go with ridiculous temperatures? But no matter as long as Sepp Blatter and
the cronies he has managed to protect are okay. Also those running the biggest cash cow of
all the Premier League (Barclays not Indian) were amazed when season ticket
holders across the land were dismayed regarding the proposal for the infamous overseas
39th game.
Look back at the cricket World Cup in the West Indies
where the cricket crazy calypso fans were locked out as they couldn't afford
the kings ransom they were asked to pay. Unlike Wayne Rooney they refused to
pay hundreds of pounds to guarantee entry! Also, look at any major sporting
event and ask yourself why the atmosphere is often so shit and the answer is
because the stadium is usually stuffed with suits, sponsors, corporate cock
suckers and cronies rather than genuine sports fans who would love to be there
to both create and soak up the atmosphere.
This week David Bernstein of the FA apologised for
scheduling the disastrous Hillsborough semi-final at the Sheffield Stadium when
they knew it was unsuitable due to previous crushes. I saw a programme on Sky involving
some survivors of Leppings Lane and the question was asked whether fans figured
in the thoughts of sports organisers and schedulers? The answer is/was a
resounding no as examples were cited of ridiculous kick off times, such as the Scouse semi final last season at midday on a Saturday at Wembley.
The fact is like the Old Etonians running our country,
those who run cricket at the highest level and most other major sports don't
understand and don't even really consider Joe Public at all. In fact if enough
dough is on offer from TV and sponsors they are quite happy with major
international occasions being played out in empty stadiums. The best example I
can think of are the so called "made for TV" tests between England
and Pakistan in the UAE last winter. And how many absolutely pointless ODI's
have we seen in recent years played in front of sparse crowds? The classic
pointless ODI series being England V Australia this summer meaning there was
disgracefully no time for a full and proper series between the number one and
two sides in the world! If we really want to go back to basics, what is the
nations summer game doing solely on satellite TV? How many of us fell in love
with the game sprinting back after school to watch our heroes on the BBC?
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This is what we want back on terrestrial tv! |
As highlighted on the pages of this site numerous times,
cricket has been the victim of corruption caused by the "wronguns
disease" aka the unfortunate love of money on many occasions. The most
infamous being the seduction of the ECB by the tashed tanned Texan Tycoon, the
slimy Allen Stanford. But while the Dollar/Rupee is king and the cash be it in
the form of Harry's original favourite the brown envelope or his more modern
method of the offshore bank account carries so much weight, what do we expect?
A world cricket tournament in Sri Lanka scheduled whilst that part of the world
is traditionally lashed with rain or a football world cup played in a tiny Arab
state where it is hotter than Rooneys favourite sauna, surely not....
'I have also been dismayed by some of the crowds so far but not really surprised as yet again organisers have priced the local cricket enthusiasts out of the market. '
ReplyDeleteSorry cant have that - the matches you watched had tickets on sale for 50c (thats 50 US cents) which werent sold out, and the top priced tickets were USD14 (which was 90% full occupied by tourists), so pricing on this occasion has been tailored to the local market, the local market just hasnt been enthused (bar the Lanka games which have all sold out)
Thanks for the comment. I don't your right the article I read must have been wrong. But do you think of the scheduling in the rainy season?
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