Garybaldbee said:
I share many of your reservations, but I think Channel 4's committment to cricket has been wavering for a number of years. The fact that it can't guarentee continuous coverage on a saturday afternoon - one of the few occassions during a test match when most people are in a position to actually watch it - and the insistence on ludicrously early starts so as to ensure that late finishes don't disrupt its evening schedule, suggests that its not given Cricket or its followers the respect or the coverage they deserve. Sky, for all its (many) faults will at least be able to provide proper air time, not just for the match itself but the magazine coverage which can further bolster interest in the game. (And I can have another half an hour lie in with a return to 11am starts :bound: :bound: :bound: )
I'm genuinely torn about this issue of televising Test Cricket. My instinct is to say that the whole deals stinks and the E(&W)CB have sold generations of fans down the river . . . my father for instance, he'll never get Sky but loves to watch Test Cricket on television.
However, I would share many Garybaldbee's concerns about the quality of TV Coverage of test matches. This is from the perspective of the current Ashes fever whereby cricket is almost the most important event in the sporting calendar (and we have World Cup qualifiers on our doorstep!). Next summer it's Sri Lanka and Pakistan touring England, and frankly I doubt if there will be anything like the same interest. I am also mindful that Chanel 4 dictates on the start and finish times for Test matches is hurting the paying public.
For instance, Old Trafford on Saturday; washed out for the majority of the day, but as the game could go no later than 6pm ('cause Chanel 4 said so), meant many fans were turned away when the sun was shining brightly.
I am also concerned about this habit that Chanel 4 has of cutting into the game to show horse racing.
I think the bottom line has to be that Test Match cricket is very difficult to schedule. Timings can be variable and it can be interrupted for the most vague reasons.
I think Chanel 4's coverage has been excellent in many ways, but there is no disguising the fact that they have been losing their patience. The timings of "Today at the Test" has become something of a joke.
I suppose the question has to be: what will the E(+W)CB do with the extra funds now they have taken the "Murdoch Shilling". If they are going to actively promote the game in the inner cities and beyond to unearth the Freddies and Chris Read's of tomorrow, then I will have no objection. I just fear that it is simply going to trickle down to the counties to recruit more Kolpak players.
I think Sky's coverage is very good, Charles Colville excepted, and they have been very good at covering overseas tours.
I like Ed's point about making Test matches one of the "listed" events, along with Wimbledon and the Grand National . . . the concern has to be that the BBC didn't even bid for Test Match rights in the latest round.
I will certainly miss his commentry! 
:dj: