While I agree with the sentiments about Terrestial Coverage, the simple fact is that Sky have pumped close to 300 million pounds into cricket since then, amounts that you the viewer would never allow on a licence fee or more adverts. That money has ensured the (only just) survival of most County sides and the expansion of ground facilities that you all now enjoy.
Bumble on Twitter is fighting that battle quite well at the moment.
Now again, down here if I can be bothered to pay for it I can watch every IPL Big Bash or Caribbean PL match one sometimes 2 a day, what I cannot watch and neither can you people in England is every T0 bash game as there are simply too many of them.
There IS demand for BIG BASH cricket, it is different and it can fill all the big stadiums and pay 1.3ml a year to each county.
The ONLY argument agaisnt is is whether that 1.3m would come at the cost of receipts from the County event, but on the times I watched games from “Smaller Grounds” on TV they were never full.
Tradition is important, so is the survival of the Counties, personally in this era of Goldfish attention spans, I would have through that having MORE T20 cricket to attract new fans is a good thing.
Let’s face it, the number of old farts sitting with a score book at a County Match probably doesn’t even keep the beer turnover high enough to keep it fresh.
It IS worth a go.
We did it! Ampsire win by 4 wickets.