The International Cricket Council (ICC) has entered an agreement with Cricket Australia to broadcast the Australian cricket schedule on its recently launched ICC.tv platform, focusing on ‘upcoming’ markets such as Europe and Southeast Asia.

The streaming will begin from tomorrow, 21 September – 12 October, followed by the 2021- 22 international calendar in Australia, including the men’s and women’s Ashes, as well as men’s white ball tours by New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Nikki Linney, Cricket Australia’s Head of Media Rights, noted: “We’re incredibly excited to work with the ICC to continue to grow cricket, and bring our distinctive Aussie flavour of cricket to more fans around the world. 

“There will be some excited Australian and English expats living or even holidaying in these countries who’ll now be able to easily access what promises to be a massive home summer with the men’s and women’s Ashes.” 

The season begins with the India and Australia rematch – the two sides were  finalists in the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup last year – and is to be broadcast into ‘emerging’ cricket markets such as Europe and South-East Asia.

“We know that in countries like Germany, Hong Kong and Japan there is already a significant cricket fanbase and we are hoping to see this in neighbouring countries too,” Linney continued.

The partnership brings cricket content to countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, China, Germany, and The Netherlands to name a few.

ICC Head of Digital, Finn Bradshaw, commented: “Through this unique partnership with Cricket Australia we will bring competitive and quality cricket to the cricket starved markets of Southeast Asia and Europe, as well as other regions that do not currently have a broadcast partner. 

“This confirms our commitment to grow consumption of cricket and make it accessible to the world.”

In a further popularity push for the sport, last month, ICC called for cricket to be integrated into the Olympic Games in time for the Los Angeles 2028 event. This would be the first time since 1900 that cricket would be one of its featured events.

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