Sky Sports to launch Cricket World Cup 2015 channel
Sky Sports will dedicate an entire channel to the ICC Cricket World Cup, from the first to the last day of the biggest one-day event in the international cricket calendar.
For six weeks, Sky Sports 2 will become ��Sky Sports World Cup�۪, giving viewers over 1,000 hours of round the clock cricket coverage, including all 49 matches live, as well as build-up, analysis and highlights. Two dedicated reporters will be in Australia and New Zealand, and the Verdict show will be back live for every England match to debate the performance.
Two hours of live build up will set the scene for the opening fixture on Friday 13th February as the current ICC Twenty20 World Cup holders, Sri Lanka, take on New Zealand, before England return to the MCG against Australia. The channel will launch at 6am with a series of classic World Cup matches from years gone by, before Adam Gilchrist shares his trade secrets to success in a masterclass special as part of a comprehensive schedule of support programming
Barney Francis, Sky Sports Managing Director, said, ���The Cricket World Cup is the one of the world�۪s biggest sporting events, offering six weeks of rivalry between 14 nations. By dedicating a whole channel to the tournament, fans know that there�۪s only once place to watch all of the action live, catch up with highlights and enjoy the reaction and views of our experts. This is the biggest ever year of cricket on Sky Sports and the channel will help to make sure it�۪s our best yet.�
Bob Willis, former England Captain and Sky Sports expert added, ���I was lucky enough to play in two World Cups and as player you want to compete against the top teams on the biggest stage. It�۪s only a month to go now until Sky Sports World Cup launches and as a studio analyst and a fan, I can�۪t wait to watch as all of the excitement and the stories unfold.�
Live commentary in Australia and New Zealand will be provided by Sir Ian Botham, Mike Atherton, David ��Bumble�۪ Lloyd, Nasser Hussain and Nick Knight. The Sky Sports cricket studio back in the UK will be hosted by David Gower, Ian Ward, Charles Colvile and Matt Floyd, who will be joined by plenty of guests throughout the tournament, including Bob Willis, Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior.
Fans will be able to watch the action live on mobile, laptop and selected tablet devices via Sky Go wherever they are and follow live over-by-over commentary and scorecards of every match.
