7.2 /10 1 Votes
Country of origin United Kingdom Original release May 2006-present Network Channel 5 | 7.2/10 IMDb Original network Channel 5 First episode date 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Running time 58 mins (2012-present)
43 minutes (2006-2011) Nominations British Academy Television Award for Best Sport And Live Events Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cricket on 5 is a UK television programme on Channel 5 showing highlights of England's Test cricket, One Day Internationals (ODI) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20I). The programme is produced by Sunset & Vine.
Contents
Background
In December 2004, it was announced that Channel 4 would lose the broadcasting rights to live broadcasts of test cricket after the end of the 2005 Ashes, with live coverage being awarded to Sky Sports exclusively. Initially, the England and Wales Cricket Board had announced that they were contemplating sharing the rights between Sky and Channel 4, but ultimately awarded the contract exclusively to Sky Sports.
Concurrently, the ECB announced that Channel 5 had gained the broadcast rights to highlights of all test, ODI and T20I cricket. However, unlike the coverage by Channel 4, the contract does not include coverage of domestic cricket (County Cricket, or T20 Finals' Day). Channel 5 was the only broadcaster to bid for the rights to the highlights despite not having broadcast cricket in the past. In 2012, Channel 5 extended its contract until 2017.
Current
Former
Cricket on 5 initially took most of the personnel from Channel 4 keeping award-winning anchor Mark Nicholas along with analysts Simon Hughes and Geoffrey Boycott. The commentating team usually included a fourth commentator from the opposing country, for example Ian Bishop when England took on the West Indies and Matthew Hayden when England took on Australia. Former England captain Michael Vaughan joined the show in 2010. When Mark Nicholas is unavailable, coverage has been hosted by Simon Hughes, and Alec Stewart deputised when one of the usual team was unavailable for commentary.
Running time
Initially, from 2006 to 2011, the programme was broadcast between 7.15pm to 8pm (43 minute running time). It is now broadcast from 7pm to 8pm (58 minute runtime), which allows for more coverage once advertisement breaks are accounted for. If England are playing a day/night ODI, coverage is shown at 12am-1am.
Theme song and sponsorship
Channel 5 chose not to keep the Channel 4 theme music Mambo Number 5. The first theme was "Shine" by Shannon Noll and coverage was supported by The Daily Telegraph, from 2009-2011 Wolf Bass sponsored the programme. The theme tune as of May 2011 is "The Time Is Now", performed by Russ Ballard. The theme tune from 2014 onwards is "Channel 5 Cricket Theme" by Phase Music, and was written specifically for the programme. The programme is currently sponsored by Toyota.
Production
Cricket on 5 is produced by Sunset & Vine, a specialist sports production company who also produced award-winning live coverage of England Test matches on Channel 4 from 1999–2005.