Unprecedented broadcast coverage of Women's World Cup marks 'turning point' for the game

There has been a concerted effort to popularise Women’s cricket for quite some time. And now, the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 is all set to see unprecedented broadcast coverage. It will be the first instance when all the matches of the event will be broadcast live around the world. This time the major event will be available in as many as 139 countries on television and nearly 200 territories via digital platforms.

It will be a threshold moment in the history of Women’s cricket. Among other firsts are, the introduction of the Spidercam and a drone for the final, and 30 extra cameras, including 8 Hawk-Eye ultramotion cameras, for the final and 9 other matches. There will be a world class commentary panel and a new graphics look that will give uniqueness to the coverage.

Aarti Singh Dabas, Head of Media Rights, Broadcast and Digital said, “This is the first time in the history of the women’s game we will be producing live coverage of all ICC Women’s World Cup fixtures. The ICC is committed to the growth of women’s cricket and the extensive coverage for viewers over the tournament is testament to that.

“This is a huge turning point and we are very excited to see the impact it can have on the sport as part of ICC’s overall strategic objective to grow women’s cricket. What has been impressive is the way broadcasters around the world, led by our global partner Star and local licensee Sky, have committed to coverage and growing the audience.”

The star-studded commentary panel

The commentary panel boasts of some big names including Lisa Sthalekar, Melanie Jones, Anjum Chopra alongside Ian Bishop, Sanjay Manjrekar and Simon Doull. Former England skipper Charlotte Edwards will feature in the panel for the first time.

In India, all the matches featuring India, the other key matches and the semifinals and the final will be shown live on Star Sports, ICC’s global media rights partner. Hotstar, though, will provide live telecast of all the matches.