The Indian Premier League, or “Pepsi IPL” begins today with all the brash arrogance one has come to expect from the Indian cash-cow of world cricket. The razzmatazz and sheen of the competition is not to everyone’s taste but it is impossible to deny that it is the most significant annual cricket competition in the world, and as such the only requirement to watching it should be whether one is a cricket fan or not. As it is, at least in the UK, Rupert Murdoch has once again got his grubby paws on something that until this year had been available on free-to-air TV.

British cricket fans this year will see absolutely no live cricket without a Sky subscription which is ever more expensive. The money that comes in to cricket from TV deals has been important and has created the environment for much improved facilities up and down the levels of the game. However, this has come at the expense of an overall reduction in the interest of members of the public in this great sport, all formats thereof, and particularly among the young; the poorer young to be exact.

Those families that cannot afford access to Sky Sports (the number we do not know because Sky refuse to reveal the figures of subscribers to its sports packages) cannot see a single ball of live cricket this season. Test matches, ODIs, T20 internationals, the County Championship, Royal London One Day Cup, the T20 blast and now the IPL are all exclusively available to Sky customers alone. This kind of monopoly is unhealthy from a business point of view and disastrous from a perspective of inclusivity.

In summer’s gone by the Soldier’s Field at the beautiful Roundhay Park in Leeds would be full of youngsters from all backgrounds playing cricket, never more so than during the last test series to be aired on what was then called terrestrial TV – the now almost mythical 2005 Ashes. Now everyone is still playing football on top of the cricket pitches aside from a few Asian families holding the flame of cricket aloft in West Yorkshire.

The IPL is a further symptom of this malaise. What could be a perfect road for beginners to get in to cricket has been cruelly cut off to the public. ITV didn’t exactly utilise its contract well and the advertising could have been a lot better; but the BBC or Channel 4 who have experience of dealing with cricket would have made a much better fist of it. The greatest stars of the game now ply their trade behind a series of pay walls and monopolies which deny any potential fan of the pleasure their wealthier peers take for granted. Even a “match-of-the-day” style highlights programme isn’t a possibility because of the way the contract is designed – is it any wonder that some people resort to illegal streaming?

Cricket, and sport in general should be available to those who make those sports what they are. No sport would be anything without its fans and in chasing the evergreen dollar many sports in the UK, cricket being guiltier than most, are endangering the very future of their professional status. There is a tipping point and we are at it, we can still do something about the dwindling numbers of new, young, vital cricket fans but sadly, I fear the administrators at the ECB are too busy counting cash to care.