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Clarke Calls For Public Debate
Clarke - Ready To Rumble.
The BBC have become embroiled in a public spat with the England and Wales Cricket Board over their failure to make a bid for the next television rights for domestic and international cricket.
Having failed to claim the rights during the last bidding process two years ago, the BBC did not even lodge a bid this time as Sky Television and Five secured a £300million four-year-deal starting in 2010.
It ensures another five years without any live cricket on terrestrial television and Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, has called for a public debate on the BBC's failure to lodge a bid when there are 19 million people in the country with an interest in cricket.
"Now is the time for a real debate on the future of public centre sports broadcasting, which I know is under consideration and under review," Clarke said.
"All these people interested in cricket buy TV licences and surely they should have a right to expect that the public sector broadcasters mount bids for the nation's summer sport as they do in the case of one of them for 12 other sports?
"After all, just how many people play Formula One? If the BBC is to remain part of this it must answer to the millions of cricket fans in England and Wales how it prioritises its investment in sports rights."
The broadcaster, perhaps understandably, reject the ECB's version of events.
A BBC spokeswoman said: "The BBC is astonished by the comments by the ECB.
"We've always said any bid for live Test cricket was subject to value for money and fitting into scheduling and in our view neither of these criteria were met.
"We have consistently argued that not having cricket as a listed event puts it out of the reach of all terrestrial broadcasters.
"That's the ECB's choice and they are entitled to it, but it's absurd to blame the BBC for this outcome."
The ECB claim that if any Test matches were re-listed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport - and prevented from being broadcast on anything but terrestrial channels - it would diminish their capacity to earn as much money for the rights and then distribute down to the grass roots.
But they also insist they would also have considered any bid from the BBC with Clarke claiming: "We made it extremely clear that we were prepared to consider anything - we made it clear to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee that we would.
"Our job is to the best all round for cricket...previously we had bids from terrestrial broadcasters which wouldn't have enabled us to create the sport we have created over the last four years."
Former BBC director general Greg Dyke also weighed into the debate and he added on BBC Radio Five Live: "You have to realise that the BBC, and other broadcasters, have allocated a certain amount of money for TV rights and some years ago the ECB decided what the BBC wanted to offer was not enough.
"It is not easy, years later, to redirect your money.
"The ECB should look deep into themselves. The problem they have now is that having taken Sky's money, the audience goes down a lot when it goes on pay TV.
"Are they trying to maximise their money or maximise their audience? They can't complain when people aren't interested - they decided to take the rights away from the BBC in the first place."
