- India and New Zealand to face off June 18-22 from the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton, England
- Culmination of two-year competition among the top nine cricket teams in the world
- ESPN coverage includes in-progress and post-game highlights on ESPNCricinfo.com
- All exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+ and Hotstar
The first ever International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship will stream live in the U.S. on ESPN+ and Hotstar on June 18-22, with India and New Zealand vying for the title at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton, England. This final match is the culmination of the ICC World Test Championship among the top nine teams in the world, played over a nearly two-year period to determine the ICC World Test Champion.
As part of the ICC’s goal of establishing a single, premier tournament for each of the three formats of international cricket, the inaugural ICC World Test Championship began with the Ashes series in August 2019. In addition to New Zealand and India, the competition included Australia, Bangladesh, England, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and West Indies.
ESPN’s coverage of the championship will also include in-progress and post-game highlights on ESPNCricinfo.com.
“With an ever-growing fan base, the U.S. is a significant platform for the growth of cricket, and the ICC is pleased to partner with ESPN and Hotstar, allowing for extended coverage of the ICC World Test Championship,” said Sunil Manoharan, Vice President Media Rights, International Cricket Council. “We are delighted that this collaboration will see the debut of an ICC event on ESPN+, in addition to Hotstar and ESPNCricinfo.com.”
“The ICC World Test Championship is a fantastic, premier event and we can’t wait to present it to all of our cricket fans in the U.S. on ESPN+, Hotstar and ESPNCricinfo,” said Burke Magnus, President, Programming and Original Content, ESPN. “We are fully committed to delivering the most comprehensive coverage of top international cricket, and this first World Test Championship adds to a broad slate that we continue to build.”
The second ICC World Test Championship is scheduled to start in July 2021, with the championship set for June 2023.
In addition to the ICC World Test Championship, ESPN+ has multi-year agreements for exclusive U.S. rights to stream New Zealand Cricket and Cricket West Indies matches, and ESPN’s Cricinfo.com is the world’s leading source for cricket news, analysis and information across a variety of platforms.
About ESPN+
ESPN+ is the industry-leading sports streaming service that offers fans in the U.S. thousands of live sports events, original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks and exclusive editorial content from dozens of ESPN writers and reporters. Launched in April 2018, ESPN+ has grown to more than 13.8 million subscribers.
Fans sign up to ESPN+ for just $5.99 a month (or $59.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNplus.com or on the ESPN App (mobile and connected devices). It is also available as part of The Disney Bundle that gives subscribers access to Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu for $13.99/month (Hulu w/ads) or $19.99/month (Hulu w/o ads)
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