Fox Sports' exclusive coverage was the No.1 watched program for the network on Sunday, averaging 326,000 homes, according to the media week morning report, but this almost certainly would have been only a third of the ratings expected had the game been on free to air. New free-to-air broadcaster Channel Seven does not begin its coverage until the first Test against India next month, with Fox enjoying the exclusive rights to all one-day international and Twenty20 internationals. One-day internationals, predominantly outside of the World Cup, have long lost the lustre they once had but generally enjoy strong ratings, with viewers tuning in and out through the day. However, the governing body expects numbers to improve for the impending four Twenty20 internationals, one against South Africa at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast on Saturday night, and then three against India, in Brisbane (November 21), Melbourne (November 23) and Sydney (November 25). "We’re always keen to get more bums on seats but happy with where we are tracking at this time of year which is consistent with historical trends. We have a great season ahead and have already sold more than 100,000 tickets for the three T20I matches v India," a CA spokeswoman said.

"By mid-December, we'll have a mix of WBBL, BB, and Test cricket available to fans all around the country, all of which have broad appeal and are highly anticipated by our fans." The series against the Proteas was not helped by the negative headlines in which the sport has been mired through the ball-tampering scandal, heightening after the release of the Longstaff report. There were also social media posts that fans were saving their money for the BBL campaign. Test great Ian Healy, a long-time commentator for Nine who has switched to Fox Sports, said the sport was missing free-to-air coverage early in the season. "Definitely for cricket. I think we are missing the free to air publicity of people knowing that the games are on. Seven are starting cricket on December 6th, the first day of the first Test. They are not going to promote these one-dayers because Fox have got them exclusively. The game is certainly missing that pre-season publicity and it's shown in the figures," he said on Channel Nine. Healy, speaking before Sunday's clash, said the poor crowds were a wider concern for a format that hopes to have greater context when a new championship, culminating in World Cup qualification, begins next year.