ECB Agrees New Five Year Deal for BBC's Test Match Special

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced a new five-year deal with BBC Radio which secures the future of the long-running Test Match Special programme and will see more cricket covered by the networks than ever before.

The new agreement, which covers ball-by-ball coverage on Radio 4 LW of home Tests, One-Day Internationals and the quarter-final stages onwards of the two domestic One-Day knock-out competitions, is an extension of the BBC's current four-year deal which expires at the end of the forthcoming domestic season.

It will come into force at the start of the 2001 season when England will host an Ashes series of five Test Matches against Australia, two Test Matches against Pakistan plus the NatWest Series of One-Day Internationals.

Under the terms of the deal, the BBC will from 2000 provide listeners with an early-evening highlights programme, quarter-hourly updates and features on Five Live with, for the first time, cricket reports on Radio One's Newsbeat programme. In addition, there will be extensive cricket coverage on BBC Local Radio and the creation of a new Test Match Special Young Cricketer of the Year Award.

The Corporation has also agreed to support its coverage with an extensive on and off-air marketing campaign and support a campaign designed to ensure wider provision of children's cricket safety helmets.

Announcing the deal, the Chairman of the ECB, Lord MacLaurin, said: "We have had to think long and hard before making this decision as both the BBC and talkSport made very impressive bids for the radio rights.

"What eventually swung the decision in the BBC's favour was their willingness to promote the game right across the network from Radio Four through to Five Live and Radio One. We believe the breadth of their coverage - coupled with enhanced promotional and marketing support - will help us achieve our goal of maximizing cricket's appeal still further.

The ECB's Marketing Director, Terry Blake, said: "The competition for home international coverage has been extremely competitive and the agreement we have reached with the BBC represents a significant increase in rights fees."

"In making our decision, we wanted to strike the right balance between reaching the widest possible audience and securing increased revenues for the development of the game at all levels. I am delighted to say that we have achieved that goal and we look forward to renewing our partnership with BBC Radio, and of course, the Test Match Special Team."

For further information contact:

Andrew Walpole ECB Media Relations Manager, 020 7432 1125/0385 527102
Mark Hodgson, ECB Media Relations Officer - 020 7432 1251/0467 764947