The International Cricket Council today announced the details of its broadcast and digital coverage plans for the ICC Women’s World T20 2020 in Australia giving cricket fans around the widest range of platforms ever for a women’s event.
- ICC TV will produce coverage from all 23 matches
- Live coverage accessible in over 200 territories carried by 15 Broadcast Partners
- Short-form digital coverage available on ICC’s Facebook page
Building on the momentum from the first standalone ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2018, fans will now be able to connect with the tournament across a greater number of broadcast and digital platforms than ever before.
Star Sports, ICC’s Global Broadcast Partner, and its Broadcast Partners will bring coverage to fans across the world through live and highlights television coverage in close to 160 territories. Whilst the live digital coverage – simulcasts on mobile and other digital platforms like Hotstar in India and other parts of the world and channel apps such as Kayo in the host nation, will be available globally – in over 200 territories.
The 16 broadcast partners confirmed for the event include Star Sports (India and the rest of the Indian Sub-continent (including Sri Lanka)), Fox Sports (Australia), Channel 9 (Australia) Sky Sports (United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland), SuperSport (South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa), Etisalat Criclife (United Arab Emirates), Willow TV (USA & Canada), Sky TV (New Zealand), PTV (Pakistan), ESPN (Caribbean), Gazi TV (Bangladesh), Radio Television Afghanistan (Afghanistan), Fox Networks Group (South East Asia), Digicel (Pacific Islands), Yupp TV (MENA, Continental Europe, and Central Asia), Star Cricket (Singapore, Malaysia & Hong Kong).
Leading the charge in multi-language production, ICC’s Global Broadcaster, Star Sports, will broadcast all matches in English and India matches (excluding India v Sri Lanka) in five languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, and Kannada. For fans wishing to connect to the tournament via the web or mobile platforms, all matches will be available on Hotstar.
Meanwhile, in the host country, Fox Sports will televise all matches live on Fox Sports Cricket or Fox Sports 5 supported by Kayo for digital viewers. Channel 9 will also carry coverage of all Australia matches, the Semi-Finals and Final as well as six other tournament matches. (Please check local listings).
In Thailand, viewers can tune in and enjoy coverage of the nation competing in their first-ever ICC Women’s T20 World Cup via Yupp TV’s platforms on Smart TVs, web and mobile.
Yupp TV will provide extensive global coverage to over 60 territories including Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland and Faroe Islands, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino and Vatican City, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan. A list of licensees is available here.
Fans looking to catch up by short-form, on-demand coverage in India and the Indian Sub-continent (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) and Afghanistan can watch via the ICC’s Facebook page. Post-match highlights will also be made available.
Elsewhere, in-match digital coverage and post-match highlights for fans in the United Kingdom and New Zealand will be made available by the BBC (United Kingdom) and Spark Sport (New Zealand).
Globally, post-match highlights and a range of event features, media conferences and archive material will be available to view globally on the ICC’s Facebook page and Instagram account.
Digital fans can follow the tournament via the official T20 World Cup mobile App and t20worldcup.com website. You’ll have everything you need to know about the event including news, results, and highlights for every game including exclusive behind-the-scenes content provided by our Digital Insider team featuring Ridhima Pathak, Alex Hartley, and Neroli Meadows.
As ever, a range of content will also be delivered to the ICC and T20 World Cup Social media channels across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, and TikTok and fans can join in the discussion by using the tournament hashtag #T20WorldCup.
ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said: “We are committed to the growth of the women’s game and giving more fans the chance to connect with this event on more platforms than ever before is how we supercharge that growth.
“Thanks to our global broadcast partner Star Sports, our licensees and Facebook, hundreds of millions of cricket fans around the world can enjoy watching the world’s best players competing for the title of ICC T20 world champions.”
ICC TV will produce the live coverage, which will see a minimum of 24 cameras at all venues. ICC TV will provide a fully-produced program that will allow broadcasters to transmit the matches without the need for a unilateral presentation set-up. A 30-minute pre-game build-up, an innings break show and a post-game wrap-up will be produced by ICC TV, in addition to the match coverage.
A host of World Cup winners, cricket legends and prominent broadcasters will grace the commentary team including Charlotte Edwards, Michael Clarke, Mel Jones, Isa Guha, Nasser Hussain, Lisa Sthalekar, Debbie Hockley, Ian Bishop, Ebony Rainford-Brent, Natalie Germanos, Anjum Chopra and Alan Wilkins.
Melanie Jones: “The cricket world is about to be mesmerized by the Women’s T20 World Cup and as hosts and lovers of sport, Australia can’t wait to play its part in supporting sporting history. Having been a part of every T20 World Cup so far, I can confidently say this will be the most competitive, the most skillful and most entertaining tournament to date. To be part of a world-class broadcast team is just as exciting as watching the world’s best cricketers go to the next level.”
Charlotte Edwards: “The enthusiasm for the Women’s T20 World Cup is palpable among the players and fans and I am sure we will have a sensational tournament down under. I look forward to my stint with the microphone, and I expect to watch some great cricket too. This is a chance for the players to not only make their mark on the world stage but to further lift the profile of women’s cricket itself.”
Nasser Hussain: “Women’s cricket has been on an upswing and this event is sure to capture the attention of fans the world over. There are several exciting players in the fray and seeing recent results, I feel the field is wide open. I can’t wait to get to Australia to watch this top-class women’s event, and work on it too.”
Isa Guha: “This World Cup is set to be bigger and better than ever, including record attendance at the final at the MCG on International Women’s Day. I cannot wait to see the players deliver some spectacular performances.”
Ian Bishop: “I look forward to seeing how the 2020 edition drives the women’s game forward and into a new dimension. Most of all, I think we are all intrigued to find out which team will prevail and be crowned the champions of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020.”
This article was first published on ICC