Why Sky's cricket deal is good news

I must admit to be mighty bored by the parade of TV execs/Tory MPs currently crying foul over Sky’s exclusive live test match cricket deal. In case you missed the fuss last summer the country when cricket mad as our boys destroyed the previously invincible Aussies. The games were shown live on Channel Four and the whole nation – well those who weren't at work or on holiday - tuned in. However as from this summer Sky has exclusive rights to show test match cricket live until at least 2009. If you want live cricket on your TV set you need to get a dish or watch it on cable.

Yet this morning we have Tory MP John Whittingdale plus an ex head of Channel Four sport (whose name escapes me) moaning about how the ECB (English Cricket Board) which runs English cricket and the Government have sold the British public down the river by doing the exclusive live deal with Sky. I am amazed that someone so senior at a TV company (I can forgive an ageing Tory MP) hasn't yet woken up to the reality of TV in the UK in 2006. His pleas are all about showing live cricket on terrestrial television so that anyone can watch freely.

Yet over the next few years the number of people viewing TV on terrestrial in a linear fashion is going to seriously dwindle anyhow. Next year's test matches will probaly be available through cable, via the web and of course on satellite. The money Sky have paid will not only enrich the game but has also paved the way for a revolution in cricket coverage with the arrival of HD. Besides it is highly unlikely we will ever see cricket or much else for that matter in HD on terrestrial. You’ll probably have to wait until 2012 and the aftermath of the Olympics for HD via your aerial, and by then we will have had HD via satellite, cable and the web for six years and no one will care anyway.

Of course I feel a little sorry for those who won’t be able to watch the games on portable TVs. I saw the climax of the fourth test on a tiny set powered by an ice cream van in a field in Suffolk. But within a couple of years we'll probably be able to watch the same games on mobiles or on personal media type devices on the go anyway.

It is time the 'sport has to be free and on terrestrial mob' faced the future. TV just isn't like that anymore.