UK culture secretary critical of 20/20 for 20
Andy Burnham, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, has added his voice to those critical of the England board over the Stanford 20/20 for 20
Cricinfo staff
05-Nov-2008
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Speaking at the FT Sport Industry Summit in London, Burham said the ECB had misjudged the mood of the public. "The event made me feel slightly uneasy and I felt the occasion was something of a hollow one," he said. "We all understand the relationship between sport and business but if you get these two things out of their proper equilibrium, then it can turn people off at home.
"I just think cricket fans want to watch games where national pride is at stake, not where money is at stake.
"I just think sport has an integrity when it is sporting objectives first and national pride first. When those things are seemingly playing second fiddle to money, I don't think that's what makes sport sellable and gives it its appeal. It starts to detract from those things and that worries me."
ECB chief executive David Collier had earlier defended the board's decision. "We would have had huge regrets if we had turned it down," he said. "Here is an opportunity to protect and bolster Test cricket at a time when we are going through a global recession and when we have heard government funding has been hit."
But ECB chairman Giles Clarke, whose role in the affair has been slammed, got some much-needed support from Nigel Hilliard, the Essex chairman. "The Stanford week may sound like a failure if you are sitting in London reading about it, but it has made the ECB some useful money and got the whole of the West Indies talking about cricket again," he told the Daily Telegraph.
"We knew Clarke was always going to be a rocky ride, but he was the right man and he has done a good job. We couldn't go round kowtowing to the Indians all year. I can only think of four people who would vote against him if the chairmanship election was held today."