Joe Root Bats For Free On-Air Broadcasting Of Cricket
Mar 30, 2017 at 11:53 AM
Joe Root, the new Test captain of England has batted for a free on-air broadcast of cricket in the country. Root said that he is very fortunate, that as a young kid he grew up in an age before the game became paywall,
“I think it would be great to have it on terrestrial telly. The more people we can get watching the game can only be good for it,” Root said.
“I was very fortunate to be able to turn on Channel 4 in the morning and watch the cricket. There was the Cricket Show on before that. Then I would go down and watch Dad play at the club in the afternoon. The more opportunities we can give to kids – even if it highlights packages – the better,” he added.
Root’s comments have come after the desire of ECB Chief Executive, Tom Harrison of an on-air telecast of the new regional T20 tournament league, which the board is planning to start in the year 2020. The numbers have shown that the popularity of the game in the country have gone down since the on-air telecast has gone paywall.
“The coverage we currently get is fantastic. Sky have done a great job in the way they have gone about it. And if you watch what BT have done, they have been very good at doing things slightly differently but they have been entertaining as well. They continue to make it interesting to viewers.
“But you can’t beat the fact that it is going to be available to everyone and not just those who are subscribing. It would be great to get more and more viewers and people watching the game.
“It doesn’t need to be exclusive. But making sure people have access to cricket on a broad spectrum is important,” Root further continued on behalf of BRUT Sport Style.
Root, who succeeded Alastair Cook as the skipper of England Test side in February this year, will lead the team against South Africa in the month of July/August, which will be his first assignment as the Test skipper.
He will be up for the biggest challenge of his career when the three Lions land in Australia to defend Ashes later this year, which they regained from Kangaroos at their home 2015.