Liam Getreu

So here’s some unexpected news: the new Twenty20 tournament to be played in India from April, the Indian Premier League, will be broadcast live on Channel Ten in Australia. Wowee!

It was just announced on Ten’s Morning News, and has so far only appeared in one blog, but apparently every game will be televised live on Channel Ten (maybe even in HD?), with most games starting at 9:30pm, at the perfect time to space out in front of the tele late at night.

It’s very surprising that Channel Ten bid, and were successful, for the rights to the IPL. Usually the domain of Channel 9, and sometimes Channel 7 and the ABC in the free-to-air arena, and Fox Sports in Pay TV, my understanding is that Ten has never hosted any form of real cricket. (Are you really surprised that I’m not counting the sham that was the recent beach cricket series?)

59 matches over 44 days, great players from all around the world, including Warne, McGrath, Tendulkar, Gilchrist, Gayle and Akhtar, all live on free-to-air? Seriously, awesome.