Cricket is no longer just a game played by gentlemen. Nor is it the 2nd division sport it once was. It is now big business with a lot of money changing hands for players, clubs, media giants and the likes of the ECB & ICC. Of course, this is great. It brings in cash right down to the grass roots; in schools and village cricket clubs the next Kevin Pietersen's or Andrew Flintoff's are reaping the rewards with new kit and practice facilities. The 2005 Ashes series, with its nail-biting excitement, aroused a passion amongst those who would never have ordinarily given the game a second thought. It has personalities, heroes and villains; all the ingredients for a popular sporting phenomena. And yet, with all these wonderful advances there looms the spectre of media relations.
England are currently 2-0 down in the most important Ashes series for many years. Fans are disappointed; the press are rounding on the England squad as if it were a weak and wounded animal, waiting to pounce. So what happens? Team England goes on the charm offensive. Spin control is becoming a bigger and bigger component of the whole international cricketing experience. And in the terrible aftermath of such a crushing and humiliating defeat the management team and the players have to face the music of the media. This is right, they should have to. We, the fans, have ownership of them because it is our money that pays for the tickets to the grounds, the merchandising and the sports channel subscriptions. Like any public servant, they are accountable to us and the media are our agents. The trouble is they can never win. Consider, if you will, Duncan Fletcher’s defiant press conference. He stated that the inclusion of Ashley Giles was right and he stood by that decision. Of course he could hardly say anything else. Had he said that the decision not to play Monty Panasar instead of Giles was wrong then the press would have had him for breakfast. But what this does now is to make it very difficult for the selectors to drop Giles and include Panasar because it would be tantamount to a signed confession.
Fletcher was well supported on all sides by both selectors and players. Paul Collingwood, England’s top scoring batsman in the 2nd test, has said that there shouldn’t be any panic changes. Which, when you wipe away the rhetoric, actually says Giles is staying in. So, for the sake of saving face, Fletcher has to pursue a course of action that the whole of the English fan base believe to be wrong. This is because the ‘good old days’ have gone and English cricket is no longer the social dinosaur it once was; instead it has evolved into a huge money-making corporate entity complete with spin doctors and party lines.
We have gone past the point of no return. Cricket cannot go back to what it was because if it did the money would disappear and along with it so would the bats, gloves and pads for the future cricketing stars. We have to accept that Team England are what they are; a united front. The question of whether Fletcher was right to stand by his decision will be answered by the end of the tour. If he is proved to have been wrong then the price for him might well be spinning his way into a new job.
England are currently 2-0 down in the most important Ashes series for many years. Fans are disappointed; the press are rounding on the England squad as if it were a weak and wounded animal, waiting to pounce. So what happens? Team England goes on the charm offensive. Spin control is becoming a bigger and bigger component of the whole international cricketing experience. And in the terrible aftermath of such a crushing and humiliating defeat the management team and the players have to face the music of the media. This is right, they should have to. We, the fans, have ownership of them because it is our money that pays for the tickets to the grounds, the merchandising and the sports channel subscriptions. Like any public servant, they are accountable to us and the media are our agents. The trouble is they can never win. Consider, if you will, Duncan Fletcher’s defiant press conference. He stated that the inclusion of Ashley Giles was right and he stood by that decision. Of course he could hardly say anything else. Had he said that the decision not to play Monty Panasar instead of Giles was wrong then the press would have had him for breakfast. But what this does now is to make it very difficult for the selectors to drop Giles and include Panasar because it would be tantamount to a signed confession.
Fletcher was well supported on all sides by both selectors and players. Paul Collingwood, England’s top scoring batsman in the 2nd test, has said that there shouldn’t be any panic changes. Which, when you wipe away the rhetoric, actually says Giles is staying in. So, for the sake of saving face, Fletcher has to pursue a course of action that the whole of the English fan base believe to be wrong. This is because the ‘good old days’ have gone and English cricket is no longer the social dinosaur it once was; instead it has evolved into a huge money-making corporate entity complete with spin doctors and party lines.
We have gone past the point of no return. Cricket cannot go back to what it was because if it did the money would disappear and along with it so would the bats, gloves and pads for the future cricketing stars. We have to accept that Team England are what they are; a united front. The question of whether Fletcher was right to stand by his decision will be answered by the end of the tour. If he is proved to have been wrong then the price for him might well be spinning his way into a new job.
An edited version of this article will appear shortly on Sportingo: http://www.sportingo.com/cricket/the-ashes/2,9
3 comments:
Your central premise is very true and well defined.
However, another impact of becoming a "huge money-making corporate entity" is the real importance of media and public opinion. Afterall the money making capacity comes from public interest, and more importantly public wallets.
Therefore, the new party line defending Giles against Panesar is wrong headed and self defeating. The public want Panesar; the public spend the money; if you don't pick Panessar, the public won't spend the money and this new cricket empire collapses.
Cricket has passed the point of no return but what that means is that if you are not successful, you have to select on the basis of popularity.
This new found popularity and money can depart cricket as quickly as it arrived.
P.S. Monty's interview today is very brave. It starts okay. He is allowed to be disappointed, but he loses the plot when he debates the quality of Giles' overall performance and especially the dropping of that catch. Stones and glass houses spring to mind!!
He has heaped a little more pressure onto himself. I just hope that he can live up to it on the field.
I hadn't looked at from that perspective, although I'm not so sure that people will actually turn their backs on cricket. My guess is that they will just continue to whinge about it...just like me!
I have only just watched Monty's interview...he certainly hasn't done himself any favours there! Might even have made a new enemy too!
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