Sunday, 21 May 2023

Broadcast Sport: BBC unveils summer cricket plans

Story from Broadcast Sport:

The BBC has revealed its cricket broadcast plans for the summer, which see both men’s and women’s Ashes taking place in the UK.

Today At The Test will provide daily highlights from all men’s and women’s tests through the summer, starting 1 June for England’s match against Ireland. Isa Guha will welcome viewers from 7pm daily, and will be joined by guests Sir Alastair Cook, Phil Tufnell and Michael Vaughan, with Alison Mitchell and Niall O’Brien making up the BBC commentary team. Hour long coverage will be available on BBC2 and iPlayer from Friday 16 June and conclude on Monday 31 July.

There is also a new documentary, How To Win The Ashes, that will be on BBC2 and on iPlayer ahead of the series. Featuring in-depth interviews with Ben Stokes, Jimmy Anderson, Steve Smith and Glenn McGrath, it examines the highs and lows of England’s Ashes attempts.

A new podcast will be released on the Test Match Special feed each day, and there will be an Ashes special Tailenders podcast- that will also be available in video on iPlayer.

England bowler Kate Cross and World Cup winner Alex Hartley’s podcast ‘No Balls’ will also run throughout the series. Including some live editions, they will bring behind-the-scenes insight into England’s Ashes campaign. A BBC Sounds exclusive will also bring together the best of the TMS archive, celebrating great Ashes moments.

In terms of live cricket, England women’s first T20 international of the Ashes series will be on BBC1 on 1 July - presented by Isa Guha alongside Alex Hartley and Anya Shrubsole.

Following the Ashes, The Hundred returns to the BBC, with 16 matches to be shown on BBC2 and iPlayer. The international summer concludes with England’s men playing a white-ball series against New Zealand and Ireland, and England’s women against Sri Lanka. The series will start on 30 August, with live TV coverage of the matches on 1, 3 and 6 September, plus daily TV highlights. James Anderson and former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming will be part of the coverage for those matches.

Director of BBC Sport, Barbara Slater, said “We love being able to bring live sport to audiences and our cricket coverage is a huge part of that. I’m thrilled that we are delivering a wealth of cricket coverage this summer across TV, radio and online, keeping fans at the heart of the action. From the iconic Ashes tournament to more recent formats like The Hundred, we are making cricket accessible to all.”

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