TELEVISION COVERAGE OF TEST MATCH CRICKET

Early day motion 696, tabled 10 October 2005 by John Grogan (Labour). Signed by 174 members.

That this House congratulates the England cricket team on winning the recent Test match series against Australia; regrets that following the Ashes series no more test match cricket will be seen live on terrestrial television for at least the next four years after the awarding by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) of an exclusive contract for all live coverage of domestic cricket to BSkyB; recognises the tremendous contribution Channel 4 has made to the televising of cricket, attracting audiences of over eight million; further regrets that since 1998 cricket Test matches are no longer on the A-list of live sporting events which must be made available to terrestrial television broadcasters at a fair and reasonable price; urges the Government to safeguard the long-term interests of the game by restoring the main home Test match series to the A-list of protected sporting events in order to encourage participation and allow young and old, rich and poor, to view the very best the game can offer; calls on BBC Sport and other free-to-air broadcasters to bid for television cricket rights in the future; calls on the ECB to recognise the importance for the future of the game of having some top class cricket live on terrestrial television; and suggests that the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport calls a meeting of the ECB and the major broadcasters to explore ways in which at least some Test match cricket may be seen live on free-to-air television in the next few seasons.

Signatures by party: Labour 107, Liberal Democrat 42, Conservative 22, Independent 1, Plaid Cymru 1, UUP 1.