The England and Wales Cricket Board are to mark the 200th live England Test match to be screened by Sky Sports during its coverage of the series finale against India.
This significant milestone in English televised cricket will be recognised by a special on-pitch presentation by ECB chairman Giles Clarke to members of the Sky Sports commentary team during the tea interval on the third day’s play.
Sky’s coverage of the fifth and final Investec Test match between England and India at the Kia Oval will also feature various highlights from the broadcaster’s first 199 live England Tests.
The first live England Test match broadcast by Sky Sports was against the West Indies in the Caribbean in 1990 and the channel has followed England’s progress overseas every year since.
Sky covered its first home Test match in 1999 at Edgbaston, the same year Channel 4 took over live free-to-air rights, a move which ended English cricket’s long-standing association with the BBC.
In 2006, Sky began showing England Test matches exclusively live at home after the ECB made a controversial decision to award them exclusive live rights, a decision which still divides some cricket fans to this day as it marked the end of live free-to-air Test cricket in the UK after 70 years.
Despite criticism from some quarters over the decision to put England cricket exclusively behind a paywall, there is now a general acceptance that the ECB has to maximise revenues from television rights, which keeps county cricket alive and funds England teams across all levels, as well as grassroots programmes.
Sky Sports’ coverage has also been widely acclaimed over the last eight years and it recently won a BAFTA award for last summer’s first Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.
Since broadcasting the first ever live ball-by-ball coverage of an overseas cricket tour in 1990, Sky’s live England Test coverage has featured 206,456 runs, 6,183 wickets and 66,723.3 overs in 199 Tests.
Every one of England captain Alastair Cook’s 108 Tests has been played on Sky, and Brian Lara’s two world record-breaking innings both took place live on Sky Sports.
Sky Sports will continue to screen England’s home Test matches and all domestic county cricket exclusively live until 2017, with an option for an extra two years to 2019.
To mark the 200th England Test match on Sky Sports, the England men’s and women’s teams wore caps embroidered with ‘200’ in team photos, with the caps being signed by the players and Sky commentary team and auctioned to raise money for Cricket United.
ECB chairman Giles Clarke, who has played a key role in maintaining the lucrative Sky relationship, said: “I want to congratulate and thank Sky for their commitment to Test cricket.
“In the last 199 Test matches they have grown into not only an outstanding broadcaster but also an excellent partner and supporter of the ECB and all cricket in England and Wales.
“I agree entirely with the opinion that we are living in the golden era of television commentary and that has been down to the brilliance of the Sky commentators and production.
“The funding that Sky’s investment in cricket has produced has also led to a period of unrivalled success on the field for not only the England senior side but also the England women’s side, who have also featured regularly on Sky.
“In the past 199 Tests Sky have captured some of the iconic moments of England cricket – importantly both home and away.
“I stress away because until 1990 seeing an England tour in its entirety was unheard of and that, through Sky, has changed forever.”
During its 24-year association with cricket, Sky Sports has developed an number of notable on-air innovations, which include stump mic and cameras, helmet cameras, hotspot analysis, high definition, interactivity and 3D coverage.
The world’s first ever usage of Hi-Motion camera technology for a sports event was by Sky’s cricket production in the West Indies in 2004.
For the 2013 Ashes, Sky Sports dedicated an entire channel to the sport, providing viewers with over 60 days of cricket including every ball from England’s Test series against Australia.
Sky also launched the first-ever second-screen cricket experience for iPad, giving users access to the same match analysis technology used by the Sky Sports commentary team during live matches.
Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports added: “We’re extremely proud of our partnership with the ECB and the impact our investment has had on the game at all levels.
“We put cricket at the heart of everything we do, using our coverage to entertain, educate and enlighten.
“Our commitment to cricket also includes extensive coverage of women’s, county and youth matches and we look forward to following England for many years to come.”
It is thought the current TV rights deal between the ECB and Sky is worth around £280m and this has resulted in a significant investment in all areas of the recreational, first-class and international cricket.
Since Sky Sports became the ECB’s live TV broadcast partner in 2006, the ECB has invested nearly £150 million in grassroots participation and improving facilities, and the Sky Sports ECB Coach Education programme trained over 45,000 coaches over five years.
England women’s cricketers have been awarded professional contracts for the first time, and specialist coaches have been appointed.
More than £10 million has also been invested in infrastructure including drainage and floodlighting, with a further £18 million available as interest free loans to support investment in improved stadia and facilities.
Sky Sports concludes its coverage of the summer Tests at The Oval on August 15-19 with the final Test of the five-match series between England and India.
David Gower, who has been at the helm of Sky Sports’ presenting and commentary team since joining from the BBC in 1999, introduces live coverage of each day’s play throughout Sky’s 200th live England Test match, with commentary from the regular team of Sir Ian Botham, Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton, David Lloyd, Andrew Strauss and Michael Holding, plus Indian guests Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.
Extra features, interviews, special videos and live score updates can be found on the Sky Sports cricket website, with additional, behind-the-scenes updates from Sky’s 200th England Test via Twitter – @SkyCricket.
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August 15-19
5th TEST: ENGLAND v INDIA
LIVE: 10.00am-7.00pm Sky Sports 2
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