Sky Sports celebrates 25 years of broadcasting women’s cricket
Sky Sports celebrates 25 years of broadcasting women’s cricket
Sky Sports celebrates 25 years of covering women's cricket in 2021 by showing more live games than ever before, starting with the Test match between England and India today.
The first women’s cricket broadcast on Sky Sports back in June 1996 saw the channel air two full days of women’s cricket that year.
25 years later to the day sees the summer’s cricket schedule dominated by the women’s game with 52 live games planned for 2021.
The increasing coverage of the women’s game will continue this summer with The Hundred competition launching, where for the first time we’ll see the women’s, game open the tournament when Oval Invincibles face Manchester Originals at The Oval on July 21st.
Sky Sports cameras have recorded all of women’s cricket's biggest milestones since 1996. From the first ever T20 fixture between England and New Zealand at Hove in 2004 to England’s historic ICC Women’s World Cup triumphs in 2009 and that famous afternoon at a sold-out Lord’s against India in 2017.
Women’s cricket has continued to grow and thrive, almost 90,000 fans witnessed Australia win their fifth ICC World T20 trophy, after defeating India in Melbourne. A record crowd for a women’s cricket match and Sky Sports were there to bring the tournament to fans in the UK and Ireland.
Today see’s Test match cricket return for the England women, and later this summer will see the launch of the new competition, The Hundred - a competition designed to grow the sport by appealing to new audiences. Sky Sports will show all 34 men’s matches and 34 women’s matches live.
Bryan Henderson, Director of Cricket, Sky Sports said: “Sky Sports has been a proud supporter of women’s cricket for decades. From the moment we broadcast the very first ball of that England v New Zealand women’s one day international fixture in 1996 our support has been there to see.
“We look forward to bringing Sky Sports subscribers more women’s cricket than ever before this summer. We remain proud supporters of the game as it continues to grow and thrive nationally and all over the world.”
Clare Connor, Managing Director, Women’s Cricket at the England and Wales Cricket Board said: “For the last 25 years, Sky’s commitment to women’s cricket has been unrivalled and their investment has helped us take the game to new levels. Since Sky broadcast their first women’s game in 1996, they have showcased the best of our sport - from the amazing highs of England Women’s World Cup and Ashes wins, through to the introduction of the KIA Super League in 2016 and now The Hundred. The journey that we have been on throughout those years has very much been taken hand-in-hand.
“Together we’ve reached a point where women’s and girls’ cricket has never been stronger - with participation growing year on year at grassroots level and with a standalone women’s game kicking off The Hundred this summer. I would like to thank Sky for their ongoing commitment to our sport and we look forward to bringing more memorable moments to viewers in future.”
Watch live coverage from all four days of the Women's Test match between England and India, live on Sky Sports Cricket.
