How county cricket can regenerate like Dr Who

How county cricket can regenerate like Dr Who

Rich Clarke
Governing Bodies

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In 1989, after five years of concerted effort, Michael Grade got his wish and Dr Who left UK television screens.

Despite a decent viewership of 7m when he took over as Controller of BBC One in 1984, Grade wanted to cut the long-running, much-loved sci-fi series. ET had just stormed the country’s cinemas and the cult show’s dodgy effects looked old and tired by comparison. Meanwhile, the latest Doctors, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, had put the series into an odd and somewhat comedic groove.

BBC’s Head of Series and Serials Jonathan Powell later explained that by the time it was eventually cut, the show was “dying through neglect and a lack of inspiration. It had gotten into a vicious circle - it wasn’t successful and therefore wasn’t given more money to increase its production values, and therefore continued to be unsuccessful”.

Grade argued the show was too scary for younger viewers, something rather at odds with McCoy's humourous tone. But he still looked for a later slot. He settled on one on Monday nights at 7.30pm, which just happened to be up against Coronation Street, the most popular show on UK television. Grade had gone by the time the plug was finally pulled due to dwindling audiences. But the show, which was expensive to produce well, had been drained of investment since his arrival and, at that point, there were plans for Grade’s baby, Eastenders, to move from 100 to 150 episodes per year. That would cost money.

The comparisons with county cricket are clear. The early tactics - neglect, underfund then marginalise - have already been enacted. Soon they will have a couple of years of data that 'proves' the success of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named in comparison to the Blast.

I suspect that Andrew Strauss' dreaded High-Performance Review will not ‘cancel’ county cricket but merely make a few major cuts then allow it to bleed out. However, the result will be the same.

Yet, of course, Dr Who would come roaring back.

Fans kept the flame burning before another BBC Controller, Lorraine Heggessey, got behind a reboot and childhood fan Russell T. Davies was brought in as showrunner. It reappeared in 2005 with better casting, scripts and production values, simply because they put someone in charge with vision, care and a true love for the concept. Dr Who has since regained its role as an iconic British show, winning a legion of new fans, a clutch of awards and lucrative sales overseas.

All this shows that the views of a few key individuals can kill something and concerted fan power is capable of reviving it.

However, should it effectively disappear, county cricket can not be ‘rebooted’ as easily as a TV show. Already, there are realistic fears it will never regain full health after being left on life-support by the ECB over the past few years.

That is why I urge you to read this and consider joining the Campaign to Save County Cricket.

Unless someone out there has some special sort of sonic screwdriver to hand, it seems the game's regeneration depends on the fans.

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