England cricket's embarrassing promo blunder goes viral
The England and Wales Cricket Board has been forced into an embarrassing backflip over the promotion of its divisive new competition The Hundred.
Following the launch of a new website and logo, fans were quick to pick up on the fact the stock image featured in the unveiling had been used in a number of other places – and had nothing to do with cricket.
Depicting a largely male crowd, the photo was apparently chosen to show fan enthusiasm for the new 100-ball format of the game.
The ECB’s decision to introduce another format has drawn criticism, particularly after removing concepts such as overs and switching ends in a bid to get more women and children fans interested in the sport.
But the governing body was left red-faced when perceptive followers discovered the true origin of the image: a Miami concert by rapper Logic in 2017.
Photographer Nicholas Green originally uploaded the snap to photo-sharing website Unsplash with the caption: “I took this shot to catch the reaction of fans of Logic: Everybody’s Tour expressing how they feel about his lyrical music.
“This photo means a lot to me because Logic is one of my favorite (sic) rappers and catching this reaction from the fan reflects on how I was feeling during the concert!”
I've done a little digging and *that* picture being used to promote The Hundred was taken at a concert by American rapper Logic at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater in Miami in July 2017.
Not quite "mums and kids in the school holidays" pic.twitter.com/4wIq9Rcqkh— Sam Morshead (@SamMorshead_) May 15, 2019
Good that the ECB are appealing to the women & children by holding the Hundred in the 6Music tent at Latitude. pic.twitter.com/miXDdMykQs
— Nick Miller (@NickMiller79) May 15, 2019
I mean, to be fair the stock image for #TheHundred does a pretty decent job of capturing the atmosphere at The Oval. 🏏 pic.twitter.com/JcOoDZjT8S
— David Shervington (@ShervingtonD) May 15, 2019
Look at all the women and children in that crowd #TheHundred pic.twitter.com/A7ZsESnoiV
— Tim-CricketGuy (@Tim32_cricket) May 15, 2019
The image also appears as the first hit on Google image search for ‘male audience’ and has been widely used as stock photo in various places online.
Cricket writer Dave Tickner collected a handful, with each appearing less relevant than the last:
These lads bloody love 100-ball cricket. But what else are they into? THREAD. pic.twitter.com/gsZL1hedMr
— Dave Tickner (@tickerscricket) May 15, 2019
Offering NEGATIVE Feedback POSITIVELY.
Might be genuinely handy, this one. pic.twitter.com/BVY2geACvN— Dave Tickner (@tickerscricket) May 15, 2019
Agreeing with all the other men. pic.twitter.com/1QeyAyRSh2
— Dave Tickner (@tickerscricket) May 15, 2019
Veganism. pic.twitter.com/zsSGGIEj1n
— Dave Tickner (@tickerscricket) May 15, 2019
Facing widespread mockery, the ECB have since taken the image down from their one-page website thehundred.com.
It was replaced by a picture of football fans, with Tickner highlighting that the ECB had no shortage of cricket photos available:
If only the ECB had some pictures of their own they could have used. Such as actual cricket fans enjoying themselves at the, er, T20 Blast. Oh, right. pic.twitter.com/JvWRjR6CWe
— Dave Tickner (@tickerscricket) May 15, 2019
The new eight-team competition is set to begin next summer and will feature both men’s and women’s teams.
with Yahoo Sport UK