The England & Wales Cricket Board has agreed to "a new broadcasting rights deal with Fox Sports in Australia," according to the PA. Fox "will show live coverage of this summer's home series against India, next year's pre-Ashes series against New Zealand and this weekend's match between MCC and a Rest of the World XI at Lord's" (PA, 7/3). In Melbourne, Chloe Saltau wrote the end of the blackout means that "Australians can watch the five-Test series between Alastair Cook's struggling team and MS Dhoni's India starting at Trent Bridge." The series could determine the future of Cook's captaincy, "which hangs in the balance after the Ashes whitewash and a home series loss to Sri Lanka, although the English can take some heart from India's uninspiring record on the road." Australian cricket lovers "vented their frustration at not being able to watch Sri Lanka's tour of England, with many threatening to cancel their pay TV subscriptions, but Fox Sports has picked up the rights for the rest of the English summer at the 11th hour." There was no mention of Australia's imminent tours of Zimbabwe or the UAE, "but Fox Sports is believed to be in negotiations for those series" (THE AGE, 7/3).
