Deal to avoid TV blackout
SKY EXPECTED TO SCREEN ENGLAND T20s
ATelevision blackout of full england games for the first time in 15 years is expected to be avoided today when sky complete a deal with West indies to show the last two Twenty20 internationals of the Caribbean tour.
The prospect of no live coverage of england for the first time since they toured Zimbabwe in 2004 has been hanging over this tour since the West indies and england boards decided to add two T20 games to an already packed itinerary.
sky had a deal with West indies host broadcaster sony to cover three Tests, five one-day internationals and the sole T20 in st lucia today that was in the original schedule, but were forced back to negotiate.
now sky are confident of a last-minute agreement to also show the additional games in st Kitts on Friday and sunday having dealt directly with the West indies board.
The impoverished West indies board are still ‘hopeful’ of gaining extra money from sky as they stand to make a loss out of staging the two extra games, but are prepared to take a hit to make sure the matches are seen by a worldwide audience.
it has not helped their hand that england, on the verge of staging a 50- over World Cup, have rested Jos Buttler, Ben stokes, Jason Roy and Moeen Ali and will field an experimental side against the World Twenty20 champions.
one of those players hoping to use these three games to force himself back into the england picture is Dawid Malan, who was dropped during the Test series against india last summer when national selector ed smith said he was best suited to overseas conditions.
The Middlesex captain averages 50 from his five Twenty20 internationals and was also good enough to make a brilliant 140 in the third Ashes Test in Perth last winter, but the suspicion is that his face does not fit with the current hierarchy.
‘When you average 50 with a strike-rate of 150 you do, probably selfishly, think you should be playing a bit more,’ said Malan. ‘That’s just down to the strength and depth of this white-ball team, so you have to take any opportunity you get.
‘i did speak with ed when i was dropped and we were honest with each other but i played with him at Middlesex and we’ve never had an issue.
‘When you play your whole career in a country, it’s tough to be told you’re suited to somewhere else, but the way ed explained it to me made more sense than the way it came across. For me now it’s about proving a point and showing i can play all over the world.’