MUMBAI: To ensure that English cricket players are not forced to give the Indian Premier League (IPL) a miss, the England Cricket Board CEO David Collier has asked the BCCI to re-schedule IPL.

English players like Matt Prior are unhappy about not being able to participate in the event. IPL franchises are reluctant to buy England players during player auctions as they are often unavailable for the entire length of the event.

The IPL clashes with the opening weeks of the County season as well as the start of the English international summer. As a result, very few English players take part in the IPL. This season Luke Wright, Eoin Morgan, Owais Shah and Dimitri Mascarenhas are the only England cricketers to be playing in the cash rich IPL.
 
Collier has said that ideally, the IPL should get over by 30 April. "It would make things a lot easier for us. We still have to get the workload balance right, but it would make it a lot easier for our players to be available for that period and certainly the BCCI are fully aware of that. There is a willingness on the part of both Boards to see if we can make any progress" he has said in media reports.

But it seems difficult that BCCI will accommodate Collier?s request in the near future. The World Twenty20 in Bangladesh is scheduled to run from 16 March to 6 April next year. The World Cup in Australia and New Zealand will probably take place in February- March 2015.

MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has renewed the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) rights for seven years.

This will include the multi-platform rights to broadcast its domestic and international matches in England.

The deal, which runs from 2013 to 2019, incorporates rights for television, online, mobile and radio, covering India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh among others across Asia. The broadcast arrangement also includes territories in North Africa.

As a part of this agreement, ESS will broadcast more than 300 days of live International cricket action, including 47 Test Matches, 63 One Day Internationals and 15 Twenty20 games.

Key highlights of this new agreement include India?s next two tours to England in 2014 and 2018 as well as three Ashes series in 2013, 2015 and 2019.

Major Test playing nations will be competing in England, including New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa.

In addition, ESS will broadcast 60 days of ECB?s domestic cricket every year, including the Friends Life T20 competition, the CB40 tournament, the LV=County Championship, as well as England Lions, England Under 19s and England Women?s cricket. Specifically for the Indian subcontinent, the exciting cricket action will be available during prime time making it a very interesting proposition for fans and advertisers alike.

ESS MD Manu Sawhney said, "We are delighted to further extend our partnership with ECB with whom we have shared a very strong relationship over the past two decades."

ECB CEO David Collier said, "This new agreement demonstrates the enormous appetite for cricket worldwide and the global pulling power of a successful England team and a vibrant County game.

"In a challenging economic climate with all sports facing tough competition for funding streams, it will also provide an important source of additional revenue for funding the development of our game at all levels.

"TV audiences for cricket are expanding rapidly in Asia and the Middle-East and we look forward to working closely with ESS to give both our international and county teams the widest possible TV exposure over the next seven years."

ESS had earlier renewed its deal with Cricket Australia in December 2011. That was the first time that a broadcast deal with Cricket Australia gave ESS rights to showcase two India series. India is slated to play four Test matches and a tri-series with England as the third team in the 2014-2015 season. This tri-series, featuring India, Australia and England and scheduled right before the ICC World Cup in 2015 is already looked upon as the signature event of the year and is positioned as the ?Clash of the Titans?. India will visit Australia again for7 ODIs and2 Twenty20 matches in the year 2015-2016. More recently Star india had bagged the rights for india cricket. Those rights will be sub licensed to ESS gioving the broadcaster a dominant position in cricket.

ESS over the next 13 months, will have over 400 match days of cricket starting with the ongoing West Indies? tour of England to all the way to ICC Champions Trophy in England in June 2013.

Also Read:

ESS retains England cricket rights for $200 mn

MUMBAI: The ICC Board has recommended the name of David Richardson, the ICC General Manager ? Cricket, to succeed compatriot Haroon Lorgat as the ICC CEO to the ICC Annual Conference.

The ICC Nominations Committee met in Mumbai at the weekend to interview four ?outstanding candidates? for the chief executive?s role and on Thursday obtained the ICC Board?s support via teleconference for Richardson?s nomination.

Besides Richardson, those in the fray included England and Wales Cricket Board CEO David Collier and former Karnataka cricketer and head of adidas South East Asia Tarun Kunzru. The fourth candidate was from Australia going by the name Baker.

The ICC Annual Conference is to be held in Malaysia capital Kuala Lumpur on 28 June.

If endorsed, Richardson will become the fourth ICC CEO. His predecessors were David Richards (1993-2001), Malcolm Speed (2001-2008) and Haroon Lorgat, whose current four-year tenure ends on 30 June 2012.

Johannesburg-born Richardson, 52, has been the ICC General Manager ? Cricket for the last 10 years and has an outstanding CV having represented South Africa as a wicketkeeper in 42 Test matches and 122 One-Day Internationals.

On retiring from international cricket in 1998, Mr Richardson, a qualified lawyer, maintained close contact with the game as both a business director with Octagon SA and as a media commentator before becoming the ICC?s first General Manager in January 2002.

After hearing of his nomination, Richardson said: ?It is a great honour to be nominated to be chief executive of the ICC. I am delighted with this opportunity and thank the ICC Board for their approval. It has been a privilege to serve as ICC General Manager ? Cricket, and that work will continue until such time as the ICC Annual Conference ratifies my nomination. I am looking forward to working closely with all the membership and stakeholders in the game."

MUMBAI: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has agreed a new six-year deal with BBC Sport for the radio rights to broadcast ball-by-ball commentary on international cricket from 2014 to 2019.

The agreement, which will encompass two home Ashes series in 2015 and 2019, and tours by India in 2014 and South Africa in 2017, provides BBC radio with live and exclusive coverage of all England?s home Test, One-Day International and T20 series.

The BBC had previously agreed a four-year deal with ECB to broadcast live ball-by-ball coverage of international cricket which is due to expire at the end of the 2013 season.

ECB CEO David Collier said, ?The next six years are set to be exciting ones for the sport and Test Match Special?s coverage together with the regular summaries and updates provided by BBC Radio 5 live will play a significant role in
promoting cricket from the playground to the Test arena.?

BBC Sport director Barbara Slater said, ?We?re delighted to be taking cricket on the radio forward for a further six years. Test Match Special, now in its 55th year, is one of the most treasured programmes on the BBC with its unique mix of expert commentary, insight, humour and entertainment. In a new digital era the programme and its accompanying download have never been more popular with its audience.?