Australian cricket fans, already reeling from revelations of pre-meditated cheating during the third Test in South Africa, may face a double whammy of having to pay to watch future tests and ODIs on TV.

A combined Channel Seven/Foxtel bid for Tests, ODIs and Big Bash may result in top games being forced behind a pay wall.

One way to watch: TV viewers could be forced to pay to watch home Test matches. Credit:AAP

While cricket is protected by the same anti-siphoning laws that apply to the NRL and AFL, the reality is fans of both football codes must subscribe to Fox Sports to watch all games. Less than half the weekly NRL and AFL games are shown on free-to-air broadcasters, Channels Nine and Seven respectively.

Cricket fans have not paid to watch any of cricket’s three offerings – Tests, one day matches and Big Bash – for five years but may now be forced to subscribe to Fox to view premium games.