Honestly, the ICC aren’t the only ones taking this approach; they’re following a procession of other companies who are starting to attack You Tube and other video services.

It’s a dumb move and the organizers are indeed on a money grab. YouTube definitely has it uses, but the lack of organization and the number of pre-teens on there make it a virtually useless site to me.

I don’t care what they do. As a true cricket fan I am on a constant search for legitimate DVD/VHS footage anyway. In fact, just yesterday I pulled out my Connoisseurs of Cricket DVD featuring Richard Hadlee, Viv Richards, Doug Walters, Waugh Brothers and more.

Damn it, why is it FireFox spell check and MS Word can’t fix my pathetic attempt at spelling the word “Connoisseurs” but Google can?

It’s completely insane.

Of course there’s a point where people posting your copyrighted material on the net is eating into your ability to make money from it. But low-quality YouTube videos of a few minutes of a cricket match is not where you draw the line.

When it comes to sporting events, for everyone except the core fans, out of sight is out of mind. I don’t have Sky, so I’m just following the World Cup via the radio and the papers; it wouldn’t take much for me to tune it out altogether. This just makes it a little more likely. It kills a whole source of grassroots buzz that might keep people interested.

Harry

Scott, be careful what you wish for!

At this point, nothing would surprise me. Though I can’t help but wonder if recent events, and I include those of the past year, are signs of a deep disease in the ICC. At the moment, they appear to be trying to brush Bob Woolmer’s murder under the carpet, by virtually disassociating themselves from it, the way they have with so many issues. They appear toothless, but I wonder…..is there hidden agenda that’s only begining to show itself, with this sort of petty powerplay over YouTube?

I think the ICC are just protecting their copyrighted material and have every right to do that. If YouTube would like to benefit from copyrighted material then they have to pay for it.

I also think there are better ways to promote cricket around the globe than through YouTube.

Excellent article by Andrew Miller, I thought. Like Harry R above, I am currently subsisting on a meagre diet of radio, newspaper and internet coverage, much of which is terrific of course, but there’s no substitute for the square meal of actually watching the games. The BBC’s late-night highlights are all very well, but by the time I’m able to sit down and watch the video, another match has already finished. I refuse to line Murdoch’s pocket (not that my wife would let me anyway), so all that’s left to me is to head for the pub. This will be the ruination of us all!

The ICC needs to take it’s collective head out of its collective ass and smell the real world.