‘Pirate Broadcasters are the Biggest Danger to Cricket’ says Clarke

Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), believes the “biggest danger” to the sport is pirate websites streaming live cricket.

This follows the ECB closing down more than 700 websites illegally streaming live coverage of England’s Test series against India.

The sites cut across the ECB’s exclusive broadcast deals with Sky and the BBC, worth almost £300m to English cricket.

The ECB announced today a new six-year contract with the BBC for live coverage on the radio, guaranteeing Test Match Special on the air until 2019.

A new contract with Sky is impending with another six-year deal likely as the ECB looks to guarantee its income until 2019.

But it is the fight against pirate websites which the ECB will continue to wage, working with other sporting bodies and the Government.

“We all have to be vigilant,” said Clarke. “There are a huge number of pirate websites that stream cricket on the internet taken from television broadcasts, we and our broadcasters closed down 700 during last summer’s series against India.

“These pirate broadcasters are the biggest danger to cricket because they take money out of the game without commercial benefit to the sport.

“It is an extremely complex procedure to close down websites but it can be done and has to be done.”

Are you all surprised by Clarke’s recent sentiments or is this a issue in sports that has been bubbling for a while now? Have your say here