Ashes cricket set to stay on Sky

THE ASHES cricket series looks set to stay on Sky Sports after the new coalition government rejected proposals to put the Tests on free-to-air television.

Sports and Olympics minister Hugh Robertson has deferred the decision to expand the number of listed events until after the digital switchover is completed in 2013.

That means broadcasting rights for the matches between England and Australia will be sold to the highest bidder which will almost certainly be Sky.

It is an outcome which will have pleased the England Cricket Board and its chairman Giles Clarke.

Mr Clarke has long argued that the ECB would lose a huge chunk of its income if it was forced to put the matches on free-to-air TV, making it harder for it to invest in grassroots cricket.

But, it must be said that the reliance on Rupert Murdoch's buck is rather perturbing, and the government's decision deprives the wider public of witnessing an event in which England has excelled in recent times.

The last Test cricket to be shown on free-to-air television was the last Ashes Test in 2005, a draw at the Oval which secured England's first success in the competition for 18 years.

The rights holders for the 2005 series were Channel 4 which regularly attracted eight million viewers and it would be fair to say that the event had "national resonance".

Four years later, in front of the Sky cameras this time, England repeated their 2-1 series win but only two million people tuned in on a regular basis.

That is not really a fair reflection on the Sky Sports coverage, which is excellent, involving a fine array of analysts and commentators, and a superb use of graphics.

Indeed, if it were not a subscription service, Sky's cricket coverage would undoubtedly attract a far bigger audience. Therein lies the problem, however.

And it was an issue recognised by an independent review panel led by former FA chief David Davies.

The panel recommended in November last year that the Ashes should be included on a list of protected events.

These are the so-called "crown jewels" of British sport which are said to have a "national resonance" and which must therefore be broadcast on a free-to-air channel.

The list currently includes the Olympics Games, the football World Cup and European Championships, the FA Cup final, the Grand National, the Epsom Derby, the Wimbledon tennis finals, the Rugby League Challenge Cup final and the Rugby World Cup final.

As well as inclusion of the Ashes, the panel also suggested that the Open golf championship and the whole of the Wimbledon Championships should be on the list, as well as the qualifiers for the national football teams.

Certainly, if these suggestions had been put in place, Britain would have been brought more in line with the much of the rest of Europe.

France and Italy, in particular, have many more protected events, ensuring a wider audience can see their national teams from various sports in action.

But, with the ECB so reliant on Sky for its funding, perhaps a better outcome would be for a compromise to be made.

Unwritten arrangements already exist in golf and tennis in which the major championships are shared between the broadcasters. Similarly, in rugby league, Sky shows the Super League while the BBC has the Challenge Cup.

My suggestion is that Sky should allow the First Test of a home Ashes series at Lord's, to be broadcast by the BBC (or Channel 4). The idea actually has advantages for both free-to-air and subscription channels.

For a start, Test cricket would get a few days back in the glare of free-to-air television at the home of cricket, and selecting the First Test would ensure the match was not a dead rubber.

By showing just one Test, the free-to-air broadcasters would not be bogged down with the problem of having to find up to 25 days of scheduling.

A maximum of five days would be required, taking up little more time than the BBC spends showing Royal Ascot or the Open golf.

Meanwhile, from Sky's perspective, the free-to-air coverage would act like an advertisement for the rest of the series.

The first Test would be sure to attract a larger audience, all of whom would be potential subscribers for the remaining matches.

Even if any live Test cricket on a free-to-air television channel is somewhat of a pipe-dream at the moment, surely a better highlights package than present could be negotiated.

The current highlights on Five last 45 minutes, less advert breaks. Again, there is not much wrong with the quality of the programme but its duration is far too short to reflect the narrative of a day's play and include a wide breadth of analysis.

Indeed, a programme length of 45 minutes is particularly meagre as compared to the free-to-air highlights of Premier League football which are on every week for over an hour between August and May.

Of course, if nothing else, I suppose there is always the unique listening experience that is Test Match Special on BBC Radio 4 LW or Five Live Sports Extra.

And, in some good news today ahead of the Ashes tour this winter, Australia were all out for just 88 against an erratic Pakistan team looking to level the series.

The bad news? Pakistan are England's next Test opponents in a four-match series starting on 29 July.