ESS Grants Live Cricket Rights to Al Jazeera Sport

SINGAPORE: An agreement between ESPN STAR Sports (ESS), the exclusive Asian rights holder for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) matches, and Al Jazeera Sport brings live coverage of the Friends Life Twenty20 2012 to the Middle East and North Africa for the first time.

Al Jazeera gains live coverage for 25 matches from ECB’s domestic Twenty20 league schedule, to take place from June 13 to August 25. This marks the first time ever that live cricket coverage is airing in the Middle East and North Africa.

Anurag Dahiya, the senior VP of corporate development and cricket rights, said: “We are very pleased with the strong interest shown by Al Jazeera Sport in cricket. These arrangements promise to extend the popularity and reach of ECB’s events with the aim of raising the profile of the sport in the region, building on from last year’s highly successful ICC Cricket World Cup.”