The 2020 edition of the Wisden Almanack has expressed the importance of free-to-air coverage for English cricket after the broadcast of the World Cup final proved that live cricket made available for free makes an “instant and lasting” impact.

For 14 years since the 2005 Ashes series, English cricket had been put behind a paywall, until last year’s World Cup final, where as many as 15.4 million viewers tuned into Channel 4 to see Eoin Morgan’s team lift the trophy at Lord’s.

In his editor’s notes for the 2020 Wisden Almanack, the 157th edition of the famous book, Lawrence Booth states that Sky’s decision to share the broadcast of the World Cup final with Channel 4 ensured that “the England team belonged to the whole country once more”.

“Fourteen years earlier, Michael Vaughan’s Ashes winners had soaked up the sunshine and adulation in Trafalgar Square, a moment of nationwide celebration that was immediately undermined when English cricket vanished behind a paywall,” wrote Booth.

“It was no coincidence that several of England’s new world champions spoke of 2005 as their source of childhood inspiration.”

Booth notes that the fact that a third of the World Cup final viewers on Channel 4 were watching cricket for the first time indicates the need for England’s matches at their next home World Cup to be available to those unable to afford a subscription.

“The argument that no one watches TV any more sounded odder than ever; and the rule of thumb by which 10% of viewers are under 18 meant more than 1.5m potential young converts,” Booth wrote.

“When the UK next hosts the World Cup, the government must insist that England’s games can be watched by the man and woman on the street, not just those who can afford the subscription.”