The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced that talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2, the new national, 24-hour sports radio station, have secured broadcast rights to the NatWest T20 Blast and Royal London One-Day Cup competitions for the next two seasons.
The agreement will see talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2 broadcast a minimum of 30 live commentaries per season across both competitions and includes a weekly round-the-grounds show dedicated to the Friday night round of NatWest T20 Blast fixtures.
The new deal begins with live coverage of Essex’s opening NatWest T20 Blast fixture against Surrey at Chelmsford on Friday, May 20th.
Sanjay Patel, the ECB’s Commercial Director, said: “This is great news for all cricket fans. Our new partnership with talkSPORT means county cricket can reach an even wider audience and will help build on the excellent levels of coverage our domestic game already receives from all sections of the media.
“It’s also a significant boost for our two major limited overs competitions – both of which saw their crowds increase last summer following a season which resulted in record attendances for domestic and international cricket.
“With England performing so well in the recent World T20 competition and in 50-over cricket this winter, this is the ideal opportunity for talkSPORT to capitalise on increased interest in the limited overs game and bring their own distinctive brand of coverage to domestic cricket."
Mike Bovill, Managing Editor of talkSPORT 2, said: “Cricket is at the heart of the talkSPORT 2 schedule and the success of our coverage of the World Twenty20 and Indian Premier League has already shown there’s a huge appetite for our brand of limited-overs action.
“With personalities like Darren Gough on talkSPORT every day, we want to change the way cricket fans listen to the sport and I believe this is the start of a fantastic partnership with the ECB.”
Glamorgan's T20 Blast campaign gets underway at The Kia Oval against Surrey on May 26, while their first home match is against Essex at The SSE SWALEC on June 1. Tickets available here.