Chris Rattue: Watch Sky's sport while you can

There's enough cricket on TV to sink a ship and fortunately there have been other morsels to help float my boat.

Don't get me wrong. The cricket has been fabulous with the Cup to come, but since we're on a roll with the cliches, variety is the spice of life. Which got me thinking ...

This year is massive for sport, led by the cricket and rugby World Cups. We will watch these and other events the traditional way, via a Sky subscription, aerial and dish. For how long though, and what downsides lie around the cable bend?

While some big sports try to keep a free-to-air presence, especially for major events, the vast majority of comprehensive coverage comes with a bill from Sky. And down the line - the fibre optic line - so-called free-to-air telly and other things such as Blu-ray players will end up in that bin full of valve radios and VHS machines.

What will it be like in four years time? Very different no doubt. Coliseum gave us a glimpse of the future, taking the English Premier League off Sky and putting it on a separate internet channel where subscribers can view any game from each round live or delayed for a week. American sports are available via individual apps. Broadband provider Orcon launched a petition last year to liberate rugby from Sky's package system. The bright sparks are circling.

The broadcasting world is changing alright, although the direction is hard to pinpoint precisely. There is a probability that by the next cricket and rugby world tournaments, we will be internet tied. If so, what might we lose?

Variety, that's what. Not only do we get just about every major sport, but Sky's one-stop-shop provides the inadvertent interludes. Channel surfing took me to surfing last week, the final round of the women's world tour in Hawaii. The action was fabulous, with an undercurrent of world title ramifications. Over the weekend, there was excellent wake boarding from Abu Dhabi. Last week, we crowded around a work TV to watch the final of the world darts championship.

In the past, I've binged on all sorts of esoteric stuff - at one point the favourite was the world's strongest man competition, where blokes with names like Svend and Mariusz turned everyday objects such as motor cars into weightlifting objects.

The Ironman legend Craig Alexander, a footballer in his teens, told me last week that the exploits of trailblazing compatriots Greg Welch and Michellie Jones helped inspire his career because that pair gave the sport a big TV presence in Australia. Yet how many people would ever watch triathlons if they were only available on a dedicated internet channel?

Sky's one-stop-shop is prohibitively expensive for many, while others choose to save their cash. But it is a delightful smorgasbord of major, medium and minor sports. Even if the Sky system remains in some form, the rise of Coliseum-type providers will drag dad away meaning the family must follow, so to speak. Happenchance won't happen. If specialist sports streaming takes over, it will provide advantages for some including the price. But there will be costs.

Cricket weirdness

The build-up to the cricket World Cup is weird beyond belief, with New Zealand playing Sri Lanka seven times before meeting in the opening game of the tournament. They will know each other inside out by then, because it is difficult to hold much back in cricket where individual form is vital for selection prospects. This familiarity will be an advantage to the Sri Lankans, playing away from home against a New Zealand side on a roll. On another note ... New Zealand have sometimes set cutting edge fielding standards, stretching back to the early 1970s side which toured the West Indies. The current team are terrific catchers but the general athleticism will drop when veterans Kyle Mills and Daniel Vettori join the lineup.

Heineken withdrawals

There is minor wailing and gnashing of teeth over top players and particularly champ John Isner withdrawing on the eve of the Heineken Open in Auckland. But that's life near the bottom of world tennis. The Auckland tournament is a stepping stone, a convenience, an option. That Isner is too tired to defend his title, has other things to do, says it all. The Auckland organisers do a great job considering, and the best approach is to celebrate whoever does turn up. But circumstances can always change for players in a brutal professional arena and Auckland will never be a priority for most. Players pull out of tournaments - including grand slam events - all the time.