BBC television bosses were under fire today for ignoring the first cricket international between Scotland and England, to be played in Edinburgh in August.
The corporation says it has no plans to screen the historic one-day match at the Grange because it is too busy with the Olympics.
But city cricket lovers accused the BBC of turning its back on them, while Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald said it had
a duty to cover the game.
The row follows criticism of the corporation earlier this month for its failure to cover Scotland's two rugby test matches in Argentina.
Two weeks ago, a report commissioned by the BBC itself highlighted sports coverage as one of the most controversial areas where the corporation fell short of giving Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland their proper place.
Mohammed Arshad, secretary of the Edinburgh Cricket Club, said he was "very disappointed" at the BBC's decision not to televise the match.
He said: "There are lots of people out there trying to bring this game to the wider public, and we have to fight football and rugby for the attention of youngsters.
"The Scotland cricket team has made a lot of progress and has qualified for two world cups in recent years, which is better than the football team. But the BBC has turned round and said it is not going to do anything about it."
Ms MacDonald has written to BBC bosses saying it seems strange that BBC Scotland, "as the public service broadcaster in Scotland, should not deem this one-day event worthy of coverage".
She said she understood the massive commitment of resources needed for the Olympics coverage but added: "I still think BBC Scotland has a duty to cover important sporting events in Scotland.
"This cricket match, I believe, could act as an effective catalyst in persuading youngsters, in particular, to engage in a sport in which Scotland is growing our own heroes and role models."
She said she was not necessarily asking the BBC to broadcast, either live or recorded, every last second of the match, but she urged it to think again on its refusal to show any of it.
A BBC spokesman said: "BBC Scotland has been very supportive in broadcasting cricket coverage and it is unfortunate that this match has been scheduled in the midst of the Olympic Games.
"The BBC has a commitment UK-wide to transmitting many hours of Olympic coverage each day the event is on.
"We have had many meetings and conversations on the subject with Cricket Scotland, who know how disappointed we are that it will not be possible to broadcast the match on television. We will be covering the match live on BBC Radio Scotland."
The full article contains 460 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
