Written question asked by Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative) on Monday, 10 October 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 12 October 2005. It was answered by James Purnell (Labour) on Monday, 17 October 2005 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Test Cricket

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will put cricket test matches on the A-list of sporting events.

Answer: No. Cricket test matches played in England are on the list of events which must be offered to the main free-to-air broadcasters, but only for secondary coverage such as highlights.The decision to end protection of full live coverage was made in 1998 in the light of the recommendations of the independent review undertaken by the advisory group chaired by Lord Gordon of Strathblane.Income from broadcasting forms 80 per cent. of cricket's income and the increased income since 1998 has allowed the ECB to invest substantial amounts in programmes for grass roots cricket and central contracts for England players, which have helped to contribute to the current success of the England team.However, this time round, if the ECB had been prevented from considering bids from subscription broadcasters, competition for the rights would have been very limited and the ECB have told me that this would have led to a loss in income of around £80 million, which would have been disastrous for the game.The Secretary of State has made it clear that the Government will need to review the list of protected events as digital television take-up increases and viewers have a wider range of options for watching sport. This will provide the opportunity to re-consider the listing of live test cricket. However, this will not affect the 2006–09 contract.

Secondary information