Thu, 01 Jan 1970 03:33:40 MSK

After a 40-year partnership with Channel Nine, the broadcasting rights for Australian cricket were secured by Channel 7 and Foxtel in April 2018.

But on Friday, The Daily Telegraph’s Ben Horne revealed Channel 7 chief executive James Warburton delivered a scathing assessment of Cricket Australia’s management, calling it the “most incompetent” administration he has ever worked with.

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Speaking to SEN’s Whateley on Monday, The Courier-Mail’s Robert Craddock claimed three Australian networks were on bad terms with the organisation.

“Somehow, and I’m not sure how it’s happened, but Cricket Australia have managed to offend all three free-to-air networks,” Craddock said.

“That’s quite an achievement because normally if Seven hate you, Nine love you.

“But Channel Nine fell out with Cricket Australia, and they no longer have the rights. They are pleased to see the back of them.

“Channel 10 are still furious at Cricket Australia … they thought they had the rights the last time they went around, but they lost them at about five minutes to midnight, so they’re furious.

“And of course Channel 7, their fury is on the table.

“Personally, I feel that the most likely outcome is that they’ll get a discount and continue on, but they’ve got their dukes in the air and they’ve got gloves on and they’re ready to rumble.”

Steve Smith during the Sydney Test match against New Zealand.

The coronavirus epidemic has heavily impacted the upcoming summer of cricket, with two bilateral one-day series cancelled and a T20 Cricket World Cup postponed.

Due to travel restrictions and a packed international calendar, the quality of cricketers on display in the Big Bash League will also be considerably poorer. However, CA is reportedly refusing to give broadcast partners a discount.

Seven currently pays approximately $75 million a year to CA for the broadcast rights as part of its six-year deal, and Warburton bluntly described the current arrangement as a “trainwreck”, threatening to terminate their $450 million contract.

“We are forced to consider all our options including terminating the contract, and we have put them on notice,” Warburton told The Daily Telegraph.

“This is not an acceptable product, and we will not support the season. Cricket Australia have an obligation to deliver a competition of no lesser standard than the past.

“What a bumbling, stumbling administration. ‘Don’t worry,’ they say. ‘We will deliver a full BBL season. We’ve got good news. We can one hundred per cent tell you who can’t play because we know they are in a hub we’ve created for our international white ball games. The only problem is we actually have no idea who will play the BBL.’

“How stupid to schedule international cricket against the BBL and drain the resources of a competition already under pressure. It’s a joke, and it rips off the fans.

“We paid a huge price and were promised the world. There is an obligation to deliver the best quality to the broadcasters.

“It’s the most incompetent administration I’ve ever worked with, with no appointed full time chief executive officer at a time when the sport needs strong leadership to steer through these extraordinary times.”

Channel 7 chief executive James Warburton.

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Craddock warned Channel 7 are in a position to take legal action against CA due to a secret contract clause.

“You must deliver a product which is the equal or better to the one you delivered last year. It’s in the contract,” Craddock said.

“Now this year’s Big Bash, palpably, with all those players missing, will be inferior to last year. If they want to go to court, that’s the contract clause which would get them out of televising the Big Bash.

“With 30 players missing, it won’t be. I really get Channel 7’s protest here, I really do. And all that we’re talking about here stretches back to one word — Greed.

“When they (CA) couldn’t accept that it was a lovely bite-size format, they had to push it up to 60 games a season and have this marathon format thinking, ‘We’ll get the television rights deal up over $1 billion with this extra-long, awkward, marathon format’.

“It’s taken the sizzle out of it, and it was just a bad mistake from the word go.”Pat Cummins set to be next Australian captain?

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