Sky & Channel 4 to share Cricket World Cup Final

England’s bid to lift the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup will be broadcast live on free-to-air television after Channel 4 and Sky struck a deal to make the final available to the entire nation.

The partnership comes after England beat Australia to secure a place in the final on Sunday, 14 July, where they will face New Zealand at Lord’s, in what will be the first England match to be televised live on terrestrial TV since 2005 and the first Cricket World Cup match to be shown on free-to-air since the 1999 final on the BBC.

Channel 4 will take Sky Sports’ pre and post-match coverage, presented by Ian Ward from pitchside at Lord’s, with a special 90-minute build-up show starting at 9am on Channel 4 and the Sky Sports Cricket World Cup channel, ahead of the scheduled start of play at 10.30am.

Due to a clash with the British Grand Prix – which is the only live free-to-air F1 race to be shown this season, in a separate partnership agreed with Sky – live coverage of the cricket will be split between Channel 4 and sister channel More 4.

Starting at 9am on Channel 4, live coverage from Lord’s will switch to More 4 at 1.10pm, while the British Grand Prix airs on Channel 4, with the cricket returning to Channel 4 after the race has finished at around 4.45pm.

Live coverage of the final will also be available to watch in full on Sky Sports’ dedicated Cricket World Cup channel, as well as Sky Sports Main Event and Sky One.

Channel 4 has provided the Cricket World Cup’s only free-to-air outlet with highlights of every match, having secured a late deal with Sky and the ICC, although all of its programmes have been broadcast after 10pm due to rights restrictions.

Will England or New Zealand show the globe their greatness and go on to win #CWC19?

Watch the #CWC19 final between #BackTheBlackCaps and #WeAreEngland live on Sky Sports Cricket World Cup and Main Event from 9am on Sunday. #Believe pic.twitter.com/SJ8x0YZuMV

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 13, 2019

Sky confirmed prior to the semi-finals that it would make the Cricket World Cup final available to a free-to-air broadcaster should England reach the showpiece match.

The host nation progressed to the final after beating arch-rivals Australia by an emphatic eight wickets in their semi-final at Edgbaston, paving the way for Sky’s partnership with Channel 4 to be finalised.

Both broadcasters will take the match coverage provided by the ICC TV world feed, produced by Sunset+Vine, with commentary coming from Sky Sports regulars Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain and Isa Guha.

Also part of the commentary line-up will be former New Zealand stars Brendon McCullum, Simon Doull and Ian Smith, as well as Ian Bishop, Sourav Ganguly and 2015 World Cup winner Michael Clarke.

Commenting on its deal with Sky for the final, Channel 4 Chief Executive Alex Mahon added:

“This is fantastic news for cricket fans and the nation. This Sunday is a massive day for British sport with England tantalisingly close to lifting the Cricket World Cup for the first time and Lewis Hamilton setting his sights on his seventh season win at Silverstone – all live on Channel 4.

“The big winners of the strong partnership between Channel 4 and Sky are sports fans and viewers who want to come together for these big sporting occasions.”

The 2019 Cricket World Cup marked the return of cricket coverage to Channel 4 after a 14-year hiatus, since it broadcast the 2005 Ashes which saw 7.4 million viewers tune in to watch a thrilling climax to the series at The Oval, which at the time represented the broadcaster’s highest ever audience share in its history.

Live coverage of English domestic and international cricket has been shown exclusively on Sky Sports since 2006, but while the pay-TV broadcaster has been credited with revolutionising TV coverage, as well as consistently pumping in huge amounts of money into the sport, critics have long expressed concern over the steady decline in TV audiences and participation at grassroots level since the loss of live free-to-air coverage.

Many prominent cricketing figures, including England captain Eoin Morgan, were among those to praise Sky for making the gesture to ensure the 2019 final has the opportunity to achieve the biggest cricket TV audience since the 2005 Ashes.

What a game for @englandcricket. Incredible news that @C4Sport & @SkyCricket have teamed up to bring you the final live on Sun. Coverage from 9am but before that H/Ls of Eng’s spectacular win at 10pm tonight on @channel4 also avail on 4OD. Where we get to hear from @root66 #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/xuMJeKY52o

— Isa Guha (@isaguha) July 11, 2019

Sky’s UK and Ireland chief executive Stephen van Rooyen said:

“England in the Final on home soil is a huge moment for sport in this country and we are proud to be the host broadcaster.

“Thanks to our strong relationship with Channel 4, we are partnering to make the game available to everyone, so the whole country can get behind England, and be part of a special national sporting event.”

The 2019 Cricket World Cup is a focal point of a huge summer of cricket, which also includes the men’s and women’s Ashes series between England and Australia, which will be shown exclusively live on Sky Sports, whilst nightly free-to-air prime-time highlights will be shown on Channel 5.

From next year, Sky Sports will show all of England’s home matches and domestic games from 2020 to 2024, with selected T20 internationals and matches from the new Hundred competition also to be shown live on the BBC, which picks up the free-to-air rights to show highlights of England’s Test and one-day matches.

Scroll down for everything you need to know about how to watch the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup Final between New Zealand and England on Sky Sports and Channel 4.

SUNDAY 14th JULY

Watch free live streaming online via All 4 – channel4.com

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SUNDAY 14th JULY

Sky TV subscribers can watch coverage online via Sky Go & Sky Sports Online/App

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