ICC announces broadcast and digital details of #WTC23 Final

The International Cricket Council today announced the details of its broadcast licensee arrangements as well as an experienced commentary panel for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 Final to be played between Australia and India at The Oval from 7 June.

The final of the second edition of the championship, that ran from 2021 to 2023, will be broadcast across the globe to attract a potential audience of 700 million people across 100 territories through ICC’s official broadcast licensees, plus additional coverage on icc.tv to reach a truly global audience.

In India, the Star Sports network will showcase the English World Feed and provide regional coverage in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. Their digital platform Disney+ Hotstar will show live coverage of each day’s play. India’s public broadcaster Doordarshan will also carry live coverage of each day’s play via their DD Sports channel.

In Australia, the Test will be shown live on Channel 7 and its digital platform 7Plus along with pitch-side studio analysis.

In the UK, Sky Sports will carry the live coverage via their Sky Sports Cricket channel, which is also available via subscription on the Sky Go app and NOW.

Supersport will cover the match in full across their linear network in Sub-Saharan Africa with digital coverage via the DSTV app.

In New Zealand, the match will be telecasted via Sky Sports as well as through their linear channels and the Sky Go app.

In the US and Canada, cricket fans will be able to enjoy the action via Willow TV on both linear and digital platforms.

Fans in the UAE can access the match on CricLife on Etisalat and Starzplay, while people from the Caribbean will be able to watch the Test on Sportsmax. Other broadcasters include ATN in Afghanistan, Gazi TV in Bangladesh and Maharaja TV in Sri Lanka.

In other markets, broadcast coverage can be accessed on ICC’s in-house digital platform ICC.tv, ensuring genuine global live coverage of the The Ultimate Test.

Live audio-only coverage will be provided by BBC Test Match Special direct from the venue to a UK audience and SEN will be airing live to listeners in Australia and New Zealand. Several other radio channels will be broadcasting live, full details here.

Non-live coverage can be viewed on ICC’s Facebook and Instagram channels, which will include in-play clips and highlights clips in the Indian subcontinent and global five-minute highlights.

BBC Sport will also provide coverage via short-form in-play and highlights clips within the host country.

Production details:
ICC TV will produce the live coverage of the WTC Final with best-in-class production enhancements. There will be a fully produced live match day programme for broadcasters with a 30-minute pre-matchday build-up, lunch and tea interval shows and a post-matchday wrap-up.

The commentary panel for The Ultimate Test will include stalwarts of the game – Ravi Shastri, Ricky Ponting, Sunil Gavaskar, Matthew Hayden, Nasser Hussain and Kumar Sangakkara, who will be joined by experienced broadcasters Harsha Bhogle and Alison Mitchell, alongside Dinesh Karthik and Justin Langer.

Ricky Ponting: “Test cricket is the ultimate format for cricketers of my generation. It is the ultimate test of skill and temperament. I’m looking forward to commentating on the World Test Championship Final at The Oval between two top-class sides. I can’t wait!”

Ravi Shastri: “India and Australia have had some epic encounters in the past, and they are two tough sides who will give everything to lift the mace. This is The Ultimate Test, and it will take not only talent and flair but a lot of grit and determination to come out on top. India have been in the final before and this is a chance for them to go one better.”

Alison Mitchell: “The Oval provides a great stage for what promises to be a superb Test match between two sides that have played some extraordinary cricket over the last two years. There are going to be some splendid performances in the battle for the mace, and I am really looking forward to calling all the action from the commentary box.”

Dinesh Karthik: “It’s a great honour for the teams fighting it out at The Oval for the World Test Championship mace. Nothing beats the buzz of Test cricket. It’s also a great honour for me to be able to commentate on what promises to be an epic encounter.”

Matthew Hayden: “Australia and India have been superb throughout this World Test Championship cycle. It will be great to see how they perform in neutral English conditions, and the crowds are going to love every bit of it as Kohli and Smith, Shami and Cummins, Lyon and Ashwin go head-to-head in this battle of epic proportions. It’s an amazing opportunity to watch the match and share my views along with my distinguished fellow commentators.”

ICC TV is supported by production services partner Sunset+Vine and equipment services partner NEP Broadcast Solutions. AE Live will deliver the on-air graphics for the coverage.

Viewers will be treated to state-of-the-art coverage which will include a minimum of 35 cameras. The coverage will be complemented with a variety of analytical and visual enhancements.

There will also be a comprehensive range of DRS services including ball tracking and edge detection which will be provided by Hawk-Eye. The graphics system will be supplemented by in-depth cricket data analytics to be provided by Cricviz.

The drone camera provided by Batcam will provide stunning views of the venue and its surroundings. There will be a Batcam buggy cam as well for a roving ground level view, while Spidercam will provide an aerial view of play.

The broadcast will feature extensive fielding analysis through Field 360° – a virtual field model, powered by an AI enabled live player tracking engine which will be used to highlight fielding positions and strategies, provided by Quidich Innovation Labs with creative direction from ICC TV.

ICC TV will also produce a host of additional content off the field of play, to be distributed to its media rights partners via the ICC TV content delivery service. This content will include player profiles, team features, match previews, venue features and other behind the scenes content, getting fans close to all the action around The Ultimate Test.

ICC Digital
A dedicated website worldtestchampionship.com has been set up for the tournament, which will bring to the fans all exclusive content revolving around the event.

Dedicated mobile apps on iOS and Android will also feature vertical videos including match clips, daily highlights (including Hindi) and behind-the-scenes player content.

Also exclusively on app, users can view a 360 degree replay of every six via the VR ShotTracker experience.

To enhance fan experience, bespoke in-stadium activations will be carried out like live polling and quizzes.
BCS Bureau