The prospect of cricket returning to the BBC "moved a step closer after it emerged that Sky and BT have no objections to sharing some live rights with the corporation," according to Elizabeth Ammon of the LONDON TIMES. The BBC wants to agree to a deal with English cricket execs to "show matches in the new city-based Twenty20 competition" to be launched in '20. The TV rights -- set to be sold in four separate packages -- "could be worth as much as" £1.25B ($1.55B) to the English game over five years. A source close to Sky Sports said that the company understands why the England & Wales Cricket Board wants some matches on free-to-air TV and "may even be willing to work with the BBC to help them with production costs." BT is also understood to be "willing to undertake a similar arrangement to show some games in partnership with a terrestrial TV broadcaster" as it did recently with Channel 5 for its Big Bash coverage. The ECB is "expecting there to be a large overall increase in the amount bid" for int'l and domestic events. One source said that BT "may target buying rights to the new T20 competition more aggressively than England Test matches" (LONDON TIMES, 3/29).
