The governing bodies of sports who moan that they must be watched on terrestial television are playing a dangerous game and it could cost them dearly in the long run.

Former FA doyen David Davies and his panel decreed that a host of national sporting events are 'crown jewels' and must be available to the public to watch for free.

That someone involved with the FA can stick his two fingers up at Rupert Murdoch and Sky so readily is a little humorous, although slightly disingenuous as well.

The most interesting recomendation is to make sure the home Ashes Tests are on the list, an idea that ECB chairman Giles Clarke has described as 'disastrous'.

His argument is that the loss in revenue generated from Sky would seriously damage their search for future England cricketers.

But that's not exactly going well at the minute is it? The current England Test squad has two players schooled in South Africa, Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott.

I have no complaints about these two playing for England, they've been patient and gained citizenship and are both excellent additions to England.

But there's hardly a steady flow of young stars coming through, so whatever money is being spent could (and should) be used better.

Sports other than football are torn between generating as much money as possible to sustain and improve the sport and the need to actually promote itself to as wider an audience as possible.

Take Rugby League for example. On the surface, they are furious that the Challenge Cup is a 'crown jewel' because it means they can't go to Sky or ESPN and get paid a load of money.

But being on the BBC there is every chance that more people will see it than if it were on a sattelite channel. Surely, without children being romanced by memorable TV moments, all sports have no future.

Infact, the minority sports will become a closed shop, where fresh-faced recruits diminish and quality falls away.

Even with all of its glitz and massive advertising campaigns, Sky has only attracted £6 million subscribers - not bad but in a national obsessed with sport not brilliant either.

In a perfect world, sports like cricket, flat racing and Rugby League need both money and wide universal coverage to flourish. But the world's not perfect, is it?

This report by Davies may sound like music to the BBC's ears but they will have put a hand in their pockets and pay a fair price for sport.

Sky has taught them how to cover sport properly and they need to finally rise to the challenge and not shy away from the fight.

I've no problem from the my licence fee being used to pay for some (if not all) of these sports, their appearance on BBC or even ITV, Channel Four or Five would be a benefit to us all.

Also, if it stops the production of such TV tat as Cash in the Attic, it would be an added bonus.