Igniting the creative need for cricket

I have just read Roger Baird’s excellent Cover Story about cricket, but, unlike the person from Channel 4, I do not believe there is a great latent demand for the sport.

Let’s not delude ourselves. This is not football where for one match Wembley is half empty and for the next the nation grinds to a standstill. That’s latent demand.

So, rather than trying to “ignite” this demand, I believe we would be better off trying to “create” it.

Innovations to the competitions and leagues put in place by the ECB are all to be welcomed, however, I do not believe that they alone will create new consumers.

If I could make a humble suggestion for the 13m that Channel 4 has promised to market cricket, provide each of the nation’s 23,000 primary schools with a complete set of equipment, including instructional/inspirational videos.

I’m sure the figure of 560 per school would be more than adequate to provide everything that was required and, maybe, we might ignite an interest in a handful of children per school per year.

It might not sound much, but in ten years that alone could double the present BBC viewing figures.

Peter Green

Managing director

Springletts

London W1