Live Test cricket coverage returns to free-to-air television for the first time in 16 years this February and March after Channel 4 secured the rights to broadcast England’s four-match tour of India.
In a last-minute deal with rights holders Star Sports, Channel 4 will show exclusive live coverage coverage of all four Tests on TV and online via All 4, starting with the first Test in Chennai from 5-9 February.
Rishi Persad will present Channel 4’s live coverage throughout the series, which will be produced by Sunset+Vine, who were in charge of Channel 4’s highly-regarded BAFTA-winning English cricket coverage between 1999 and 2005.
Channel 4 has confirmed that former England captains Sir Alastair Cook and Sir Andrew Strauss will be part of the studio analysis team. Cook will be in the studio alongside Persad for the first and third Tests, while Strauss will be in the studio for second, third and fourth Tests. Former Surrey and England women’s international Ebony Rainford-Brent will also be part of the studio team for the second Test.
For the live ball-by-ball coverage, Channel 4 will take the host broadcast feed produced by BCCI TV, featuring commentary from Harsha Bhogle, Sunil Gavaskar, Deep Dasgupta, Murali Karthik and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, with Sky Sports regulars Nick Knight and Mark Butcher also part of the team.
Alongside the live action, a highlights package of each day’s action throughout the series will be available to watch via Channel 4’s on-demand streaming service All 4 shortly after the close of play. From the second Test onwards, this highlights programme will also be broadcast on TV via More4, with the first showing at around 1pm, followed by a late-night repeat.
Channel 4 has also confirmed that its opening titles will include Lou Bega’s ‘Mambo No. 5’, the theme music most synonymous with its cricket coverage from 1999 to 2005.
According to the Daily Mail, Channel 4 did make a late bid to bring back its former cricket presenter Mark Nicholas to anchor its coverage of the India series, but he was already committed to talkSPORT’s radio coverage.
This will be the first time live Test cricket has been shown on free-to-air television since Channel 4 broadcast England’s memorable and momentous Ashes series win back in 2005.
More recently, Channel 4 broadcast daily highlights of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, a deal which would later see them join forces with Sky Sports to simulcast live coverage of England’s sensational ‘super over’ victory against New Zealand in the final at Lord’s.
The current England Test side are captained by Joe Root and will be bolstered by their convincing 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka which takes them to five consecutive overseas Test wins.
England will face a buoyant Indian side which pulled off a remarkable Test win in Brisbane which saw them secure a 2-1 series win on Australian soil, despite not having all their first-choice players available.
Commenting on the deal to bring live Test cricket back to Channel 4, its chief content officer Ian Katz said:
“This is fantastic news for all cricket fans in the UK. It’s been a long 16-year wait for the return of live Test cricket to free to air television but it couldn’t have come at a better time.
“What better antidote to the lockdown blues than an England Test series in sunny India.”
Channel 4’s head of sport Pete Andrews and Penny Mills, head of sports rights, led the broadcaster’s negotiations to secure the deal with Star Sports. Andrews said:
“We’re delighted to be showing live Test cricket on Channel 4 again and given the recent performances of both sides this series is set to be a cracker. We’re thrilled to have struck this deal with Star Sports.”
As well as being the first live Test cricket on terrestrial television since 2005, it will also be the first time that a full England overseas Test series has been broadcast live on free-to-air TV. Some sessions of the 1986/87 Ashes series in Australia were shown live on the BBC.
The surprise return of live England Test cricket to free-to-air television comes after rights holders Star Sports were originally asking for £20 million for UK broadcasters to screen the series, a price that Sky Sports and BT Sport declined pay. It is understood that Channel 4 snapped up a cut-price £7m deal with Star to show the Test series.
UPDATE (22 Feb): Sky Sports will show exclusive live coverage of the white-ball leg of the tour, which comprises of five one-day internationals and three T20 internationals.
Scroll down for full details of when and where to watch England’s Test tour of India this February and March on Channel 4.
For a full list of all forthcoming major cricket matches on the box, visit SOTB’s dedicated cricket on TV listings page.
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5-9 FEBRUARY
India v England
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04:00 |
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13-17 FEBRUARY
India v England
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04:00 |
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24-28 FEBRUARY
India v England
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09:00 |
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4-8 MARCH
India v England
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04:00 |
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