Test broadcasting coup for Fox Sports

Next year, Steve Smith and Dave Warner return to the scene of their sporting crime. Fox Sports has scored the rights.

All eyes will be on David Warner, above, and Steve Smith when they step on to a South African cricket ground for the first time since the cheating scandal that shook the world. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images for ECB

In February, when Steve Smith and Dave Warner step on to a South African cricket ground for the first time since the cheating scandal that shook the world, it will be one of the most keenly watched sporting events of recent years.

With millions of eyes around the world expected to be drawn to the pair’s return to the scene of the sporting crime, Fox Sports will today announce that it has won the broadcast rights to cover the three Test series between Australia and South Africa next year, and for all South African international men’s and women’s cricket through to the conclusion of the 2023/24 season.

It was late March 2018, when Australians woke to the news that arguably our two best players of the era had been embroiled in the biggest cricketing scandal since the Underarm fiasco of 1981. It was alleged Warner instructed teammate Cameron Bancroft to tamper with the ball by rubbing sandpaper across it. Smith, it was claimed, turned a blind eye.

Smith and Warner, if they remain fit, will likely be the first two players picked for the February tour, while Bancroft is no longer in the Test side. Fox Sports, which shares the rights to Test cricket in Australia with Seven, said signing the deal with Cricket South Africa was a broadcasting coup.

“We are delighted to partner with Cricket South Africa to show all the matches played by this proud cricket nation to our subscribers. This partnership continues our long-term commitment to bringing cricket fans the best of the game at home and around the world,” said Steve Crawley, executive director of Fox Sports.

The deal with Cricket South Africa comes amid the backdrop of the continuing row between Seven and Cricket Australia.

Seven is threatening to sue Cricket Australia for “many millions of dollars”, claiming it was subservient to India, and inducements from state governments — not COVID-19 — drastically altered the summer schedule.

In an affidavit filed to the Federal Court last week as part of a ‘pre-discovery’ process, Seven’s head of sport Lewis Martin claimed that Cricket Australia has breached its contract.

Seven claims it has suffered significant commercial damage. Cricket Australia changed its original schedule, which included three Test matches before Christmas, to a new schedule with only one Test in that key ratings period where they would be up against Nine’s The Block. The revised format — which has seen the limited overs games played before the schedule — has proven to be a ratings bonanza for Fox Sports.

The first one day international between Australia and India drew 470,000 viewers to Fox Cricket, while the second, on November 27, drew 585,000 viewers across all Foxtel platforms — more than the Australia’s win in the World Cup cricket final in 2015.