Tests in England may start at 10.30am

Test matches in England may be forced to start at 10.30am next season, in a bid to keep the full day's play live on television. The start of play has already been brought forward from 11am to 10.45am this year to suit the television schedulers, but the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are seriously considering a further change, after Channel 4 cut their coverage of the Lord's Test at 6pm on the dot.

"I'd be lying if I didn't say we were disappointed," said Tim Lamb, the ECB chief executive, "but we understand the constraints C4 are working under in terms of scheduling, particularly when they are trying to attract that important early evening 18 to 34-year-old audience." Cricket fans missed the moment when James Anderson took his first Test wicket, because C4 had decided a dating gameshow should take precedence.

"We are seriously considering their requirements," added Lamb, "and we will be discussing a 10.30am start as from next year. It is very disappointing when we don't see the end of play live on TV, but we are talking to C4 in an atmosphere of co-operation and consultation."

But the discussions will not be entirely one-way traffic. The ECB are also concerned that C4 have failed to live up to their promise to show early-evening highlights, one of the key factors that earned them the right to show Test cricket five years ago, and nor will they be providing live coverage of next week's C&G Trophy quarter-final between Lancashire and Middlesex, merely a highlights package. "It's obvious that there has been a moving of the goalposts," Lamb said. "In our on-going dialogue we will keep reminding C4 of their obligations. We will try to recognise their priorities and we are very anxious to strike a balance."