IN A historic first, Fox Sports will broadcast every home cricket match Australia plays from the start of October 2018.

In a major coup for fans they will be able to watch matches uninterrupted and ad-free on the subscription television network.

Fox Sports Australia — in partnership with the Seven Network and Cricket Australia — announced the six-year deal worth $1.182 billion on Friday.

Every home Test and women’s international will be simulcast on Fox Sports and on free-to-air on the Seven Network.

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Fox Sports will also broadcast every home one-day and Twenty20 international the men’s team plays. The network has provided Australian cricket fans with coverage of the men’s team in all overseas matches for the past 20 years.

Fox Sports will also be televising the entirety of the Big Bash League (16 matches exclusively) and simulcasting 23 Women’s Big Bash League matches with the Seven Network.

Every women’s international will be simulcast on Fox Sports and the Seven Network. Source: News Corp Australia

And in a boon for state cricket, domestic List A and first-class matches will return to television screens, with 13 JLT One-Day Cup matches and the Sheffield Shield Final to be broadcast on Fox Sports.

Fox Sports will also televise the annual Prime Minister’s XI and Governor-General’s XI matches.

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This bumper offering of the country’s national sport will be celebrated on the network’s newest channel Fox Cricket, which continues in the footsteps of code-dedicated channels Fox League and Fox Footy. Fox Cricket will house Super Saturday each weekend and a stable of new shows will be developed.

The Sheffield Shield Final will be broadcast on Fox Sports. Source: Getty Images

“Fox Sports understands the immense responsibility that comes with being the broadcaster of Australian Test cricket and will take extraordinary care of this privilege,” Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany said on Friday.

“We know Australians love and respect cricket and so do we. No other sport has the special place in Australia’s heart like cricket does. We promise you reverence - and revolution.

Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany. Source: News Corp Australia





“In the same way we revolutionised coverage of the AFL and NRL, we will do the same for cricket. It will be like nothing fans have experienced before.

“Now is the time for the coverage of cricket to be reinvented,” News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller said. “Our investment is about telling the story of cricket in a different, new and special way with the quality, expert and contemporary commentary and programming that fans expect.”

Fox Sports has also secured the digital rights to all cricket in partnership with Cricket Australia’s digital arm, Cricket Network, giving fans the chance to stream live matches on any device.