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Black Caps

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Thoughts on Sky Sport NZ regaining the home Black Caps and Black Ferns rights off TVNZ from 2026/27 to at least 2031/32

by Sports Benches

So there we have it, Sky Sport NZ has earlier today just reclaimed the whole home International cricket rights involving the Blackcaps and White Ferns off TVNZ and previously Spark Sport when they last brought the rights back in 2020 but has since been shutdown two years ago. 

This next TV rights contract will cover at least the next six years beginning from the 2026-27 to 2031-32 season. 

There’s no agreement with the Super Smash T20 Tournament being finalised at this stage since this will be dealt with separately but I guess this will either be streamed on its own by New Zealand Cricket or see another broadcaster like Three or even TVNZ cover this comp elsewhere unless Sky really wants it.

Looks like the return of the famed intro music or even the Tea Party segment may be coming back after all but remember times have changed and so does some of the commentators themselves.

Ian Smith, for example, is no longer employed by Sky after a long run with both cricket commentary and sideline commentating rugby. He could come back since he knows cricket all too well but I guess Sky’s Rugby team going forward seems to be more diverse from a Pasifika and female-led hosting perspective.

It’s very likely that Laura McGoldrick will be around once again and so would Simon Doull and Scott Styris with most of them jumping ship from TVNZ like Katey Martin – just speculating though, it’s still too early.

For now, there’s only more season to enjoy non-stop free of charge on TVNZ since they don’t have the funds to retain on its own and it’s being run by the Government.

They could’ve taken the risk and have most of the stuff go behind a paywall had they retain the rights – it’s a shame their TVNZ + is only free & ad-run at this stage. 

It’s also a bit of surprise that Warner Bros NZ wasn’t in the bidding process either where they got their own Max subscription streaming service but then having cut their own news team with Newshub mid last year, they would rather run three as a cost-effective free-to-air network rather than do anything to compete against Sky.

At the end of the day, it seems that Sky is the winner out of this but the battle isn’t over when it comes to the next round Rugby and Netball rights later this year.

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2022 T20 World Cup: Persistent rain abandoned Australia v England game tonight at the Melbourne Cricket Ground without a ball being bowled

by Sports Benches

Well, we were hoping to have at least some play tonight between Australia v England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground but again Mother Nature ultimately won this game ahead of the two teams without a ball being bowled.

With that being said, Australia should not have to face any issues beating Ireland and Afghanistan to complete their Super 12 campaign. However, like Mother Nature, Australia will need some luck & pray that England lose to the Black Caps (New Zealand) on Tuesday. 

That way, not only Australia can end up in the Top 2 Group 1 ladder, but they can advance into the semi-finals v India or South Africa in order to continue their World Championship defence on home soil.

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For now, the Australian Opening and Top-Order will need to be at their best by scoring big, so they can come to a semi-final fully prepared to upset a giant like India as if their 2nd place finish in Group 1 was confirmed. 

Meanwhile, their bowling has been okay on the other hand but again they will need to be up and running right & nail down early wickets from the very start. If not, they will have a hard time overcoming India in the semi-final and potentially throw away another Trans-Tasman showdown v the Blackcaps (New Zealand) for the big T20 World Cup Final at the MCG come Sunday November 13.

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We love seeing some underdog teams upset the big nation Test sides so far in this tournament, as we can’t wait to see how the business end of the Super 12 group stages unfold going into this weekend as well as the entirety of next week.

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A rundown of Nine Network’s coverage of the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup ahead of Australia v New Zealand tonight at the SCG

by Sports Benches

Well, it has been a while when watching white-ball International Cricket on Free TV, but Australia’s 2022 T20 World Cup campaign defense kicks off tonight at the Sydney Cricket Ground v New Zealand aka Black Caps.

And the Nine Network is onboard once again alongside Fox Cricket as the ICC’s Australian Free TV partner to bring you all the action with Australian games, a couple of other Super 12 games, two semi finals and the final to round off such a great next few weeks ahead of T20 World Cup on show.

I’m glad that Roz Kelly is onboard as the host who knows cricket so well, thanks to her husband who was also really good back in the his day with his fast bowling for South Africa in Morne Morkel. She also hosted Network 10’s Big Bash League coverage in the past before the rights were taken away by the Seven Network in 2018. But again, great to see Roz get the opportunity to present cricket on Nine after she came back here at the start of last year to host Rugby Union, Tennis, reading the sports news for Nine News Sydney (Fridays & Saturdays) and Sports Sunday.

It’s also good to see former Opening Batsman Mark “Tubby” Taylor provide his insights on the game once again as Nine’s primary cricket expert, even though they no longer hold the home summer matches anymore. But he’s still well liked here for over two decades since his retirement from the game, especially when he pops up on Sports Sunday for most of the year with Roz.

Although there isn’t any ex-Nine cricket faces currently hired on Seven and Fox Cricket these days following the tragic death of Shane Warne (Fox Cricket) earlier this year – as well as Michael Slater (Seven) whose life gone has upside down not long after Seven dismissed him over the past year due to budget constraints – but Nine will have two new analysts for this tournament in former spinner Steve O’Keefe and former batsman Callum Ferguson.

And oh, Michael Clarke may not have been picked up by Seven or Fox at all since Nine no longer airs the summer of cricket four years ago, but he will be on the world feed commentary nonetheless alongside Fox Cricket regulars in Mark Howard, Mel Jones and Adam Gilchrist.

It will be interesting to see what the cricketing community here will say about this commentary team in the next few weeks. I’m sure they will enjoy having a female presenting the coverage in Roz including Tubby and two fresh faces, before Nine will be back on the crease next year with The Ashes in England (Mid June-August) & the next Men’s 50-Over World Cup in India (October-November).

Then we’ll wait and see if Nine will get some help from Network 10 once the current domestic deal expires in 2024, so Nine can hopefully get Test Cricket back & 10 picks up the rest with the Big Bash & white-ball International Cricket – while keeping the Australian Open Tennis which has been working for them so well since they shocked Seven and the Australian sporting community in 2018/2019.

For now, enjoy the next few weeks of T20 World Cup Cricket. Plus, shout out to Ian Chappell who recently announced his retirement from commentary at age 78, after a illustrious spell for over a few decades following the end of his playing career with Nine and other International TV/Radio outlets.

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