DESPITE stinging criticism by MPs of the way the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) sold the rights to all live cricket until 2010 exclusively to pay-TV, the sport’s governing body does not intend to change its tendering process.

A cross-parliamentary select committee yesterday concluded that the ECB could have taken a “more pro-active approach” in ensuring there was some free-to-air coverage and censured its “timidity” in not insisting on a non-exclusive deal. “A clear signal from the outset that an exclusive deal was not on the table may have substantially altered negotiating positions in the ECB’s favour,” the committee’s report said.

As it happened, BSkyB’s exclusive offer for all live games was much more attractive than Channel 4’s offer for selected home Test matches.

The MPs reserved some displeasure for the sales process in which Giles Clarke, the chairman of Somerset, led negotiations with broadcasters. “We have to question the make-up of the governing body,” Adrian Sanders, the Lib Dems MP for Torbay, said. “There is a vested interest by counties, which are not flush with resources, and this was a very attractive deal.”

But the MPs accepted that the ECB was hamstrung by the lack of interest shown by the BBC and ITV and conceded that the governing body was “best qualified to judge what was in the long-term interests of the game”. Thus, Clarke has been re-elected to chair the marketing committee.

ECB officials are baffled as to why the committee never inquired about the sales process if it raised questions over integrity. Details were volunteered in a letter by Brian Downing, a former marketing committee chairman, who once described rights negotiations as “part rape, part seduction”.

FANS are gearing up to watch the best players in Europe with the start of the RBS Six Nations Championship this weekend, but one TV production company is on the prowl for the worst. Tiger Aspect, whose credits range from the acclaimed (Mr Bean, Murphy’s Law) to the obscure (Pet Plastic Surgery, Oblivious Popstars), is seeking a team with unfit players and poor results for a reality show. The aim is to transform them with the aid of the best players and most advanced training methods in world rugby.

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