James Forsyth James Forsyth

For cricket’s sake

England have had a fantastic day in the cricket today, reducing India to 155 for six at the close. But I still can’t get over the stupidity of the ECB who are refusing to guarantee Lords a Test match every summer.

Despite having the biggest capacity of any cricket ground in England, Test matches at Lords sell out. It is always a great occasion, England taking on the touring team at the home of the game. The idea of a summer without a Lords Test is just wrong.

The ECB has form when it comes to dumb decisions. Taking live Test cricket off terrestrial television was the worst kind of short-term thinking. Yes, the game got more money by selling the rights to Sky but at the same time it vastly reduced its role in national life; meaning that the value of the rights will decline over time. It is tragedy for the future of cricket in this country that only those children who live in homes with Sky will be able to watch the Ashes live this summer.

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