Sports minister: Test cricket will
remain behind paywall for years
By Tom MorganTEST match cricket may not appear on
free-to-air television for years to come,
the new sports minister indicated last
night, after Sky Sports ruled out
sharing the thus-far thrilling Ashes
finale with terrestrial channels.
England’s remarkable fightback, led
by Ben Stokes in the third Test against
Australia at Headingley on Sunday, has
sparked a surge in nationwide interest
in the series’ forthcoming crescendos
at Old Trafford and the Oval.
However, sources at the satellite
broadcaster told The Daily Telegraph
they have “no plans to repeat the once
in generation” gesture it made to share
live rights to last month’s World Cup
final with Channel 4.
The decision is certain to reheat a
debate over the “crown jewels” list of
sports reserved for terrestrialtelevision. The list is being updated for
the first time in 20 years, but the Ashes
is not being considered.
However, The Telegraph under-
stands that Sky, which recently signed
a five year deal for the Ashes, is all but
certain to escape any future attempts
to force the series on to terrestrial.
In his first full interview since
coming into the post, Nigel Adams, the
sports minister, said he is plotting a
dramatic drive to increase school par-
ticipation in cricket, but making Test
matches free-to-air is not part of his
plan. Mr Adams pointed out that free-
to-air broadcasters should be compet-
ing with Sky for the rights.
“Cricket also needs the cash,” he
said, referring to the England and
Wales Cricket Board’s lucrative agree-
ment with Sky. “You simply wouldn’t
see the county game as it is without the
money that comes in from the broad-
casting deals. It’s as simple as that. The
money would not be around.”
Sky is understood to have recorded
viewing figures of 2.1 million on Sun-
day, which matched the number that
tuned into later to the highlights pack-
age on Channel 5. BBC Test MatchDespite millions tuning
in for Ben Stokes’s heroics,there is no hope the Ashes
finale will be free-to-airThird fracking tremor
in a week is UK’s biggest
By Daily Telegraph
ReporterTHE largest tremor recorded
at a UK fracking site struck
yesterday with residents
hearing a “guttural roar”.
The tremor, measuring
2.9 on the Richter scale, was
felt near the UK’s only active
fracking site, less than two
days after the previous re-
cord 2.1 tremor at the facility.
The British Geological
Survey (BGS) detected the
earthquake at the Cuadrilla
energy site near Blackpool at
8.30am yesterday.
It comes two days after a
2.1 “micro seismic event”
was detected on Saturday
evening. That event lead to
operations being suspended
at the site. They had notresumed by the time of
yesterday’s tremor.
According to the BGS, this
is the third tremor at the
Preston New Road site in a
week. The Oil and Gas
Authority is carrying out an
investigation.
Heather Goodwin, a
resident of nearby Lytham St
Anne’s, said: “The walls of
my house shook, there was a
really deep, guttural roar.
For a moment, I really
thought my house was going
to fall down.”
Friends of the Earth called
for a complete fracking ban,
with Jamie Peters, a spokes-
man, saying the quakes were
“getting out of hand”.
Cuadrilla said no fracking
was being carried out at the
time of the latest tremor.tumble
SIMON DACK / ALAMY LIVE NEWS; DANIEL LEAL-OLIVASREX; OWEN HUMPHREYS/ PA; JASON BRYANT/APEXday, we are looking at a downward
trend in temperatures for the rest of
the week,” he said. “It will generally be
a lot cooler in the west with more cloud
and the risk of showers and it will be
noticeably cooler across the country by
the weekend.”
Mr Box said an “Arctic maritime air
mass” moving in on Friday would in-
troduce a cold front but insisted that
summer was not quite over yet.
Wales enjoyed a record 28.6C (83.5F)
in Hawarden on Sunday, while the top
temperature in Northern Ireland was
24.2C (75.6F) at Stormont Castle. Scot-
land’s top temperature was the 28.4C
(83F) recorded near Glasgow.Jan Etherington: Page 14A group of nuns
stay cool in the
shade on Brighton
beach, top. Above
from left: a
performer at the
Notting Hill Carnival
in west London;
Kadie Lane, 10,
splashes in the sea
at Blyth in
Northumberland; a
youngster enjoys
the hot weather by
diving into the River
Brue in West
Lydford, SomersetBen Stokes is
pictured taking a
moment in the
dressing room after
his brilliant 135 not
out on SundaySpecial was said to have recorded
figures of around 1.3 million.
In 2005, Channel 4 recorded view-
ing figures of 8.4 million for the nail-
biting fourth Test – the last time a series
was shown free-to-air. Elite cricket has
largely taken place behind Sky Sports’paywall since then – a decision that
dramatically reduced its audience but
has enabled the ECB to invest.
However, Andy Burnham, the for-
mer culture secretary and now mayor
of Manchester, had told The Telegraph
that he intended to get Ashes cricket
on free-to-air while in government.
The “crown jewel” list is ultimately
the responsibility of the culture secre-
tary, but Mr Adams suggested he was
yet to see compelling evidence that
free-to-air would support his efforts to
improve participation in the sport.
Ben Stokes’s brilliant 135 not out
ranks alongside the best individual
performances in British sporting
history and is predicted to spark an ex-
plosion of interest in cricket.
Sky Sports shared live broadcast
rights with Channel 4 for last month’s
Cricket World Cup final, a move that
resulted in a combined audience of
8.3 million for England’s dramatic
victory. Since then, Labour has said it
would make at least one England game
per summer free-to-air. The ECB says it
has taken a strategic decision with The
Hundred to “try to find that balance
between profile and resources”.The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 27 August 2019 *** 7
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