Fox Cricket
| Company type | Subscription television channel |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports broadcasting |
| Predecessor | Premier Sports Network (as broadcaster) |
| Founded | September 17, 2018 |
| Founder | Fox Sports Pty Limited |
| Headquarters | Australia , Australia |
Area served | Australia |
| Products | Cricket coverage, including domestic and international matches and related programming |
| Owner | Fox Sports Pty Limited |
| Parent | Foxtel |
| Website | www |
Fox Cricket is an Australian subscription-based television channel focused exclusively on airing both domestic and international cricket matches, along with related programming. Operated by Fox Sports Pty Limited, this channel is accessible across Australia via Foxtel. It officially commenced broadcasting on 17 September 2018.
History
Since its inception in 1995 under the name Premier Sports Network, Fox Sports has been a primary broadcaster for the majority of Australia's international cricket tours. However, the free-to-air rights for domestic Australian international fixtures have remained with the Nine Network since 1979. The inaugural significant event aired on PSN was the Australian cricket team's 1995 tour of the West Indies, marking the debut of pay-TV cricket coverage in Australia. Despite Nine holding traditional free-to-air rights, it attempted to limit pay-TV broadcasts through Australia's anti-siphoning regulations, but an arrangement permitted simultaneous free-to-air broadcasts on Network Ten.
Between the 2005/06 and 2012/13 seasons, Fox Sports exclusively held domestic cricket rights, covering competitions such as the Ford Ranger One-Day cup, the KFC Big Bash T20 matches—including the initial two seasons of the Big Bash League—as well as Sheffield Shield finals. Additionally, it provided highlights for international men's Tests, ODIs, and T20s played in Australia. In 2013, Fox Sports lost broadcasting rights for the Big Bash League to Network Ten and for the Ryobi One-Day Cup to Nine under a five-year contract; nonetheless, Nine retained international cricket rights within Australia. International cricket outside Australia largely continued on Fox Sports except for exclusive Ashes tour coverage held by Nine. The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, hosted in Australia, was jointly televised by Fox Sports and Nine.
In April 2018, Fox Sports secured a six-year broadcasting agreement with Cricket Australia, significantly enhancing Foxtel's cricket coverage. This contract forms part of Cricket Australia's wider six-year media rights deal that also involves free-to-air broadcasts by the Seven Network.
Subsequently, in May 2018, Foxtel revealed plans to launch Fox Cricket as a dedicated channel offering comprehensive coverage of Australia's summer international fixtures, including Tests, ODIs, T20s, the Big Bash League, and World Cup tournaments. The channel officially launched on 17 September 2018 with live telecast of the final match of the 2018 Caribbean Premier League.
Event coverage
Fox Cricket's sports content features:
- Australian national team fixtures
- International Test matches (broadcast jointly with Seven Network)
- One-day International matches
- Twenty20 International games
- Women's International Test matches (shared with Seven Network)
- Women's One-day Internationals (shared with Seven Network)
- Women's Twenty20 Internationals (shared with Seven Network)
- Australia A tour games
- Domestic Australian competitions
- Selected Sheffield Shield fixtures including finals
- Selected Marsh One-Day Cup matches including finals
- Complete Big Bash League coverage including finals (shared with Seven Network)
- Full Women's Big Bash League coverage including finals (shared with Seven Network)
- International home series involving other nations
- England, West Indies, New Zealand, South Africa, India
- Additional tournaments covered
- Super Smash, Indian Premier League, Murgitroyd Twenty20, SA20, T20 Blast, Caribbean Premier League, Lanka Premier League, Bangladesh Premier League, Dutch Twenty20, Pakistan Super League, Major League Cricket, International League T20, Global T20 Canada, Nepal T20 League, Inter-Provincial Trophy, Hong Kong T20 Blitz, Stanbic Bank 20 Series
Special occasions
- Allan Border Medal at the Australian Cricket Awards
News and commentary shows
Fox Cricket features a variety of studio-based programs, including:
- B4 The Bash! (2018–2020)
- Come In Spinner (2018–2020)
- Crash The Bash (2016–2020)
- Cricket 360 (2018–2019)
- Cricket A.M. (2018–current)
- Cricket Legends (2015–current, no new episodes produced)
- Fox Cricket Classics (2018–current, highlights only)
- Tea For Two (2018–2020)
- Test Cricket Live On Fox (2018–2020)
- Test Day (2018–2020)
- The Big Break (2018–ongoing)
- The Blast (2019–ongoing)
- The Cricket Tragic (2018)
- The Night Watchmen (2018–2020)
Team members
Before the 2018–19 season commenced, Fox Cricket bolstered its broadcast lineup by acquiring prominent hosts and commentators. Key recruits included Brett Lee, Kerry O'Keeffe, Andrew Symonds, Mark Howard, and Mitchell Johnson. The channel officially debuted on 9 October 2018, unveiling additional presenters and fresh programming to elevate its cricket coverage.
Commentators
- Alex Blackwell (Expert Analyst, 2018–current)
- Allan Border (Expert Analyst, 1999–current)
- Stuart Clark (Expert Analyst, 2020/21–current)
- Adam Gilchrist (Host, Commentator & Expert Analyst, 2018–current)
- Isa Guha (Host, Commentator, 2018–current)
- Brad Haddin (Expert Analyst, 2019–current)
- Mark Howard (Host, Commentator, 2018–current)
- Michael Hussey (Expert Analyst, 2018–current)
- Mel Jones (Commentator & Expert Analyst, 2018–current)
- Brendon Julian (Host, Commentator, 2004–current)
- Brett Lee (Commentator & Expert Analyst, 2018–current)
- Darren Lehmann (Expert Analyst, 2018–current)
- Morne Morkel (Expert Analyst, 2021/22–current)
- Chris Lynn (Expert Analyst, 2019–current)
- Kerry O'Keeffe (Expert Analyst, 2017–current)
Adam Peacock (Commentator, 2019–current)
- Rob Quiney (Expert Analyst, 2018–current)
- Ian Smith (Commentator, 2019–20, 2022–current)
Brenton Speed (Commentator, 2021–current)
- Michael Vaughan (Expert Analyst, 2013, 2018–current)
- David Warner (Expert Analyst, 2019–current)
- Mark Waugh (Expert Analyst, 2005–13, 2018–current)
International commentators
- Wasim Akram (Expert Analyst, 2019, 2023–24)
- Russel Arnold (Expert Analyst, 2019)
- Harsha Bhogle (Commentator, 2018–current)
- Brian Lara (Expert Analyst, 2022, 2024)
- Shaun Pollock (Expert Analyst, 2022/23)
- Ravi Shastri (Expert Analyst, 2023–current)
- Graeme Smith (Expert Analyst, 2018)
- Ian Smith (Commentator, 2019–20)
Presenters
- Megan Barnard (Host and Reporter since 2018)
- Sarah Jones (Host from 2009 to 13 and again in 2015 and from 2018 onward)
- Kath Loughnan (Host and Reporter from 2018 to present)
Former commentators
- John Hastings (Expert Analyst during 2018–19)
- Ian Healy (Expert Analyst for the period of 2018–19)
- Mitchell Johnson (Expert Analyst in the years 2018–19)
- Neroli Meadows (Host and Reporter from 2015 to 19)
- Shane Warne (Expert Analyst between 2018 and 22)
Tom Morris (Commentator and Reporter from 2018 to 22)
- Andrew Symonds (Expert Analyst spanning from 2011 to13 and again from 2018 to22)
Hosts
The Big Break
- Mark Howard (since 2018)
- Isa Guha (since 2018)
Come In Spinner
- Mark Howard (since 2018)
- Kerry O'Keeffe (since 2018)
Test Day
- Isa Guha (since 2018)
- Brendon Julian (since 2019)
Cricket Legends
- Robert 'Crash' Craddock (from 2015 onwards)
Cricket A.M.
- Jim Callinan (since 2018)
- Kath Loughnan (since 2019)
- Neroli Meadows (2018–2019)
Crash The Bash
- Lee Carseldine (since 2016)
Fox Cricket Classics
- Mark Howard (since 2018)
The Cricket Tragic
- Gus Worland (since 2018)
The Blast
- Megan Barnard (from 2019)
- Mel Jones (from 2019)
- James 'The Professor' Rochford (since 2018)
- Andrew 'Barney' Barnett (since 2018)
- Nick Rado (from 2019)
- Sam Taunton (2018–19)
- Kath Loughnan (2018–19)
Men's internationals
Current
- Allan Border – Expert Analyst, since 2018/19
- Adam Gilchrist – Host, Caller & Expert Analyst, since 2018/19
- Isa Guha – Host, Caller, since 2018/19
- Brad Haddin – Expert Analyst, from 2019/20
- Mark Howard – Host, Caller, since 2018/19
- Michael Hussey – Expert Analyst, since 2018/19
- Mel Jones – Caller & Expert Analyst, since 2018/19
- Brendon Julian – Host, Caller, since 2018/19
- Brett Lee – Caller & Expert Analyst, from 2018/19
- Kath Loughnan – Reporter, starting 2019/20
- Kerry O'Keeffe – Expert Analyst, since 2018/19
- Ian Smith – Expert Analyst, from 2019/20
- Michael Vaughan – Expert Analyst, during 2018/19–2019/20 and returning in 2021/22–
- Mark Waugh – Expert Analyst, since 2018/19
Former
- Wasim Akram – International Expert Analyst, in 2019/20
- Russel Arnold – International Expert Analyst, during 2018/19
- Harsha Bhogle – International Caller, in seasons 2018/19 and 2020/21
- Ian Healy – Expert Analyst, in 2018/19
- Neroli Meadows – Reporter, during 2018/19
- Graeme Smith – International Expert Analyst, in the 2018/19 season
- Andrew Symonds – Expert Analyst from 2018/19 through to 2021/22
- Shane Warne – Expert Analyst from the period of 2018/19 to 2021/22
- David Warner – Expert Analyst in the season of 2018/19
Women's internationals
Current
- Megan Barnard – Host since the start of the 2018/19 season
- Alex Blackwell – Analyst from 2018/19 onwards
- Mel Jones – Analyst beginning in the 2018/19 season
- Kirby Short – Analyst starting in the 2021/22 season
Former
- Sarah Aley – Analyst during the 2020/21 season
- Elyse Villani – Contributor in the season of 2020/21
Australian domestic limited-overs cricket tournament
Current
- Brendon Julian – Host since the commencement of the 2018/19 season
- Adam Peacock – Caller from the start of the 2019/20 season
- Brenton Speed – Caller beginning in the 2021/22 season
- Kerry O'Keeffe – Expert Analyst active since the 2018/19 season
- Morne Morkel – Expert Analyst starting in the 2021/22 season
- Stuart Clark – Expert Analyst from the beginning of the 2021/22 season
Former
- Allan Border – Expert Analyst during and after the 2018/19 season
- Brad Haddin – Expert Analyst starting from the 2019/20 season
- Mark Howard – Host and Caller throughout the 2018/19 period
- Michael Hussey – Expert Analyst active during the 2018/19 season
- Mel Jones – Caller and Expert Analyst since the start of the 2018/19 season
- Brett Lee – Caller and Expert Analyst from the beginning of the same period
- Andrew Symonds – Expert Analyst between seasons starting in 2018/19
- Mark Waugh – Expert Analyst during and after the commencement of the 2018/19 season
- Additionally, John Hastings, Alyssa Healy, Darren Lehmann, Chris Lynn, Rob Quiney, and Corbin Middlemas have contributed as expert analysts or callers intermittently between 2018 and present.
Big Bash League
Current
- Since 2018, Callum Ferguson, John Hastings, Alyssa Healy, Darren Lehmann, Chris Lynn, Corbin Middlemas, Adam Peacock, and Rob Quiney have contributed as expert analysts or commentators.
Women's Big Bash League
Current
- Megan Barnard has been serving as Host and Sideline Reporter since the 2018/19 season.
- Mel Jones performs multiple roles including Host, Commentator, Expert Analyst from 2018/19 onward.
- Brenton Speed joined as a Commentator starting in the 2021/22 season.
- Ben Homer has been a Commentator since 2021/22.
- Alex Blackwell has provided Expert Commentary since 2018/19.
- Erin Burns has contributed as Expert Analyst and Commentator beginning with the 2020/21 season.
- Morne Morkel started offering Expert Commentary in 2021/22.
- Mel Farrell joined as an Expert Commentator in the 2021/22 season.
- Adam Peacock has been a Commentator since 2021/22.
Former
- Isa Guha hosted from 2018/19 through 2019/20.
- Ian Healy provided analysis during the 2018/19 season.
- Meg Lanning served as an analyst in 2018/19.
- Holly Ferling acted as Sideline Reporter in 2019/20.
- Molly Strano contributed analysis in 2020/21.
World Cups
- Hosting duties were undertaken by Neroli Meadows.
- Analysis was provided by Alex Blackwell, Mel Jones, and Darren Lehmann.
- Isa Guha combined hosting and analysis roles.
- Hosting was led by Brendon Julian and Tom Morris.
- Analysts included Andrew Symonds, Allan Border, Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Kerry O'Keeffe, and Chris Lynn.
- Megan Barnard served as Host.
- Both Mel Jones and Isa Guha fulfilled hosting and analytical responsibilities.
- Analysis was also delivered by Alex Blackwell.
- Hosting was managed by Brendon Julian.
- Analytical commentary came from Mark Waugh, Kerry O'Keeffe, Brett Lee, and Brad Haddin.