There’s probably a longer blog to post out of this, but this is just stream-of-consciousness stuff: I firmly believe that England’s abysmal showing in the cricket world cup is a direct delayed response to the ECB selling all the television rights to Sky.
If a sport ceases to be regularly available at a reasonable hour on free-to-air tv, then where do the governing body think kids are going to get into their sports? If you’re a kid whose vaguely into sport and you’re channel hopping on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, you’re going to stop at the channel that is showing live sport, and if as part of that broadcast they show you how you too can have a go, you’ll be hooked.
Thorpe's Sporting Thoughts 