Sky Sports has confirmed its bumper live schedule of live English county cricket for the 2013 season.
They will show each county at least three times during the summer, with 60 live fixtures from the Yorkshire Bank 40, LV=County Championship and Friends Life t20.
In addition, Sky cameras will be at Essex when they host the England team for their Ashes warm-up match in preparation for their summer clashes against the Australians.
The season begins live on Sky Sports with the LV=County Championship and seven-time champions Warwickshire heading to Somerset on April 25.
Warwickshire won the competition last year, finishing 24 points clear of second-placed Somerset.
The first one-day action of the season comes in the rebranded Yorkshire Bank 40, beginning on May 3, with Essex facing last year’s champions Hampshire.
Hampshire won the competition beating Warwickshire by virtue of losing fewer wickets with the scores level.
They also won the Friends Life t20 competition, ensuring their title as limited overs champions of 2012.
The first match from the FL T20 on Sky Sports will see the defending champions face Surrey on June 26 at the Ageas Bowl.
In a bonus fixture on June 30, England will play a first-class warm-up game against Essex before their highly anticipated Investec Ashes series against Australia.
England played a similar match against Warwickshire in 2009 before the Ashes series which ended in a draw.
County cricket is just one part of Sky Sports’ unrivalled live cricket schedule for 2013.
Sky will screen exclusive live coverage of both Ashes series this year, all England’s home Investec Test Series, NatWest Series One-Day Internationals and NatWest International T20 matches against New Zealand and Australia.
The ICC Champions Trophy, which begins in June, is also part of the Sky Sports’ bumper summer of cricket.
The tournament is being hosted in England and Australia will be looking to retain their 2009 title where they beat New Zealand by six wickets, in 45.2 overs.
The England Women’s team will feature in three NatWest Women’s International t20 matches live on Sky Sports over the summer.
They will play against the Australia Women’s side in August, live from Chelmsford, Hampshire and Durham.
Looking ahead to the new season Paul King, Sky’s executive producer for cricket, said: “2013 is the year that cricket takes centre stage with the ICC Champions Trophy in England followed by back-to-back Ashes series and the domestic game has a chance to ride on that wave.
“Hampshire were the limited overs kings last year but there’ll be a number of sides who fancy stealing that crown, while the Championship will also be closely fought.
“We can’t wait for it all to start in April.”
Some familiar names will be in the Sky Sports commentary box for county games, including Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, Bob Willis,
David Lloyd, Michael Holding, Nick Knight and Paul Allott.
Presenting duties will again be shared by Ian Ward and Charles Colvile, with daily reports, news and views featured on Sky Sports News and skysports.com.
Viewers can also keep up-to-date with Sky Go which allows Sky TV customers with Sky Sports access across a range of devices.
Sky Sports customers will be able to watch an outstanding line-up of live cricket on the move and free of charge, with live streaming of every Sky Sports channel on laptops, computers, tablet and mobile devices.
…
Yorkshire Bank 40: Coverage begins on May 3 and features 27 live matches, including 16 day-nighters, both semi-finals and the final live from Lord’s in September.
Friends Life T20: Sky Sports will show 31 games live, including at least 13 day-nighters, all four quarter-finals and Finals Day live from Edgbaston on August 17.
LV= County Championship: The first of two matches from the LV=County Championship is Somerset v Warwickshire on April 25-28.
Ashes Warm-Up: England will head to Chelmsford to face Essex in an Ashes warm-up match on June 30.
Confirmed live fixtures below:
…
…
…
…
…
Fixtures correct at time of publication. All subject to change.
…
Just awesome! I’m anxiously waiting to watch County in HD :)