The "looming fixturing clash" between the first day of The Ashes cricket series and the State of Origin decider, the first in history, will not "pose a problem" for host broadcaster Channel Nine, as its HD channel will be home to the cricket for most of the series, according to Jesse Hogan of THE AGE. When the series begins on July 8 the Origin decider from Suncorp Stadium will be "shown on Nine, with the cricket from Cardiff to be shown on GEM." The preference for GEM over Nine's main channel is likely to be "welcomed by cricket fans given it will be shown in high-definition, rather than the standard-definition signal of the main channel." Nine Head of Sport Steve Crawley said that he "did not have any frustration that the origin and the Ashes would be competing for viewers." Crawley: "Not at all. The bosses now go with the network share, so it's not so much Nine versus GEM. They're all playing for the same side." Even though Nine will "show little of the series on its main channel its interest in the series has been underlined by its decision to, for the first time in more than a decade, send its own commentary team to England," rather than relying on the commentary from England broadcaster Sky Sports (THE AGE, 6/21).
