Sky still in the box seat

ENGLAND Cricket Board boss Tom Harrison says there will be a package suited to terrestrial TV in the upcoming tender for all ECB TV cricket rights from 2020. But the strong likelihood that the majority of the main live rights will remain with Sky was reinforced by Harrison twice mentioning during a Press briefing how well Sky cover cricket. Another Sky cricket stranglehold is certainly the fear at rivals BT Sport, although the ECB will set up packages to create competition between the pay TV networks.

Harrison is bullish about the future of cricket, despite participation flat-lining at best. He called it the No 2 sport globally and said Major League Baseball had a lot to fear from cricket’s expansion. He added that England captains Joe Root and Eoin Morgan understand the importance of playing exciting cricket to drive interest.