Despite having the top Pay TV contract available in Australia, I am unable to watch any of the home cricket test.

In NSW (and I’m guessing Victoria and Tasmania as well) we are permitted to watch the first two sessions and the first 90 minutes of the third session.

Unfortunately this is also the time when I am among the 90% of Sydney’s population who have a job and work during business hours.

When I get home at 6.05pm the damn news is on, and to add insult to injury they follow this up with the most pathetic excuse for a current affairs show.. so we miss at the very least the final 30 minutes, but when the day is extended due to slow over rates (as is more common than not) we miss the final hour.

It doesn’t matter that Foxtel are sitting there idle and more than happy to cover the action, they’re not allowed to show the unshown coverage by law.

There must have been a lot of backhanders passed to get through the legislation that gives the first rights to many sporting events to the 5 Free To Air channels (ABC, SBS, 7, 9 and 10).

This allows them to buy the rights without any competition from Pay TV, and also provides them exclusive right to NOT broadcast the cricket, league, tennis, NRL, Union, Soccer, Netball, Golf and Motor Sports. (Source)

The argument for this ridiculous law is that not everyone can afford Pay TV. Well, surely these people can afford to go to a pub and watch the telecast during the times that the commercial channels have other obligations?

The current law provides an environment where it is not possible to watch local Test Cricket. There are a million examples of this law screwing Australians, for example this story where Channel 9 choose to delay the Kiwi v Australia rugby league match by 90 minutes so they could air Funniest Home Video’s!

Then, to add insult to injur, the commercial television networks have the audacity to run this “save my sport” campaign where the premise is that allowing Foxtel to show the cricket will mean that only people with Foxtel will be able to see it.

I’m a strong supporter of USE IT OR LOSE IT. Sure, give the commercial channels first bite of the cherry, but if they choose not show the events live, then the coverage should be onsold to anyone else who is prepared to broadcast it.

Sure the poor people might not be able to afford Foxtel, they can go to the pub, the club, or worse case they can miss the last hour of play.. which is what happens now!

Here’s Elle putting the Super into Model