BBC COVERAGE: Second Scottish sports bloomer from Auntie

Published on Tuesday 24 June 2008 08:48

HAVING already angered Scottish rugby by fans by denying them the chance to see Scotland's historic southern hemisphere win over Argentina earlier this month, the BBC is about to face the wrath of Scottish cricket lovers.

Its decision not to screen the first-ever meeting between Scotland and England at Raeburn Place in August will rightly infuriate lovers of the game and reignite the debate over whether the corporation has the interest of the "regions" at heart when it comes to programme scheduling.

Having lost the first test to the Pumas so narrowly, there was considerable interest in the deciding encounter. But while the other Six Nations rugby fans had access during the summer tours – albeit through Sky – to tests featuring Ireland, England and Wales, the best the Beeb could muster was a radio commentary.

As we argued two weeks ago, how difficult could it have been to have negotiated a feed from Buenos Aries, or even broadcast delayed coverage of the match? Clearly the will did not exist to do either, and the best chance of seeing it may now lie with the SRU putting out a DVD.

Now history may be about to repeat itself unless there is a change of heart when England take on Scotland in the first full international between the two sides. This does not take place in far flung corner of South America but in Edinburgh. How difficult can it be to get a few cameras and an outside broadcast unit to Raeburn Place?

The effect of ignoring it will almost make it a behind-closed-doors match for the six thousand fans who are lucky enough – or can afford – to obtain one of the limited 40 tickets.

It is not as if there would be no interest from English cricket lovers, who will be as keen to see how the game has developed here as they will be hoping for a victory for their team.

Despite the lack of home nation representation, there was no question that the Beeb would have its usual army of commentators and analysts at Euro 2008, and no doubt they will be there in force in August when the Olympics roll into Beijing. Of course, as the national broadcaster, the BBC should be there to cover such events and others such as Wimbledon, The Open Championship and the Grand National.

But while the corporation continues to pour millions of licence holders' pounds into the expansion of its regional news output and digital operations, it appears to have a blind spot for Scottish sport, almost content to let Sky, Setanta and any other broadcaster move into home territory.

Regional sports fans in particular are getting a raw deal. Forced to pay a licence fee to the BBC, many are increasingly having to fork out to a secondary provider for sports coverage – and that simply isn't cricket.