• Star and its licensees to broadcast 20 matches to over 200 countries through live television and digital coverage
• Short form digital clips will be available in 180 countries via 14 licensees
• A commentary panel of former greats include Sourav Ganguly, Tom Moody, Ian Bishop and local hero, Grant Elliot
• Dedicated Under 19 Cricket World Cup microsite, individual team pages and fastest live scores of every game onicc-cricket.comand the updated ICC mobile App

The ICC U19 Cricket World Cup is set to be the most widely available edition in history thanks to expanded digital syndication of live coverage led by ICC’s global media rights partner, Star Sports. In 102 countries fans will be able to watch the coverage via traditional broadcast which is set to be complimented by digital coverage in 204 countries, reaching a total of 1.3 billion viewers.

Tapping into the growing popularity of digital streaming during past ICC events, Star Sports’ OTT platform, Hotstar, will stream live in over 70 territories including in the Indian sub-continent, Canada, USA, Central Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Fans will also be able to watch future stars of the game on their mobile devices with various broadcast partners simulcasting live ICC event coverage on their channel’s Apps or by Hotstar.

On television, the reach of the ICC U19 CWC will be spread across five continents as ICC will continue its long-term partnerships with various broadcast partners including Star Sports (India and the rest of the Indian Sub-continent), Sky Sports (United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland), SuperSport (South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa), OSN (Middle East & North Africa). Fox Sports (Australia), Willow TV (USA), Sky TV (New Zealand), Ten Sports (Pakistan), ESPN (Caribbean), Gazi TV (Bangladesh), SLRC (Sri Lanka) Fox Networks Group (South East Asia) and ATN (Canada).

ICC TV, will produce a 22-camera coverage of 20 of the 48 scheduled matches, complimented by the strong commentary line up. Amongst others, former India captain Sourav Ganguly, former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody and former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop will analyze the performances of future stars from around the world.

Sourav Ganguly: “I’m very enthusiastic about doing commentary at the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup as it will give me a chance to see the best upcoming talent from around the world on a single platform. A lot of future stars will be in action and I’m sure the matches will be very competitive.”

Tom Moody: “The U19 Cricket World Cup has gained in stature over the years with so many top players coming through the ranks. Cricket lovers around the globe will be watching this tournament and I’m sure it will again produce future cricket stars. For me, it will be a fine opportunity to see and commentate on the best young talent.”

Ian Bishop: “It is with great anticipation that I once again look ahead to another edition of the ICC U19 CWC. Every team at the highest levels of the game has incorporated graduates from previous editions of this wonderful tournament. The ICC U19 CWC offers these exceptional young talents a clear pathway to fulfilling their cricketing dreams. I look forward once again, along with my colleagues, to relaying the stories and analyzing the performances of these future stars from the 2018 edition in New Zealand.”

Other members of the commentary team will be former India captain, Anjum Chopra, former international players Simon Doull, Danny Morrison, Rob Key, Nick Knight, Mark Butcher, Grant Elliott, Chris Harris, HD Ackerman, Russel Arnold and broadcaster Alan Wilkins.

ICC TV’s coverage will be supported by Sunset+Vine for production services and NEP Broadcast Solutions for equipment services. A new graphics style created by design agency DixonBaxi will be brought alive on screen by scoring and graphics output specialists Alston Elliot.

A pre-game build-up, an innings break show and a post-game wrap-up will capture different aspects of the game. The build-up will begin 15 minutes before the start of play and include the toss, pitch report and match previews. The innings break programming will dip into the archives to revisit classic encounters from previous editions of the ICC U19 CWC. The match day coverage will end with a brief wrap-up of the day’s proceedings. Broadcasters will adapt this world feed with bespoke pre and post programming to cater to regional audiences.

For short form content, the ICC will continue its’ efforts to make the game even more accessible by licensing clips of match action, highlights and event content to 14 digital clip partners covering in excess of 180 countries.

Clips covering up to six minutes per hour of near-live match content as well as match previews, media conferences, clips of highlights and event features will be available to watch on ICC digital clip licensee websites, smartphone apps and other digital properties with a focus on mobile.

Partnerships include: BBC (UK & Republic of Ireland), ESPN (UK and Australia), Hotstar (India), Cricbuzz (US & Canada), Khaleef (Pakistan), Dialog (Sri Lanka), Cricketgateway (SE Asia & Australia), SKY NZ (New Zealand), OSN (Middle East & North Africa) and Channel 2 Group (Europe, Australia, Sub-Saharan Africa, UK, SE Asia & the Caribbean).

For a full list of official broadcast and digital clip licensees, please click here.

News access partnerships have also been finalised with Perform and SNTV for all 20 matches to distribute 90-second news clips, at the conclusion of each match for 24-hours.

To provide more comprehensive coverage of the tournament, an update to the **official ICC mobile App,**available on both Android and iOS, has been launched ahead of the event. The update to the App has some exciting new features including a dedicated Under-19 World Cup section with all the latest news, fixtures, results, stats and video clips from the tournament. Bringing the game to life is an enhanced match center blog and for the first time ever, a dedicated team section including profile pages for all the participating nations. Fans can also follow specific teams and even set notifications for their favorite team*. (*available on Android only)

Complementing the App, is icc-cricket.com, the central hub of all information related the event, including a dedicated Under 19-Cricket World Cup microsite. Sponsor activations include the daily Nissan Play of the Day video, OPPO winning team selfie, MRF Tyres ‘Relive the Glory’ and Hublot countdown clock. There’s a dedicated media wall bringing fans all the best content from the tournament, venues and social media, and an integration which allows fans to add fixtures direct to your calendar. Additionally, the match centres (on the website and mobile app) will carry in-match clips from every televised game and will also provide short form match highlights, outstanding moments, and interviews and reactions from every game in the tournament.

Speaking on the broadcast reach and coverage of the ICC U19 CWC, Aarti Dabas, Head of Media Rights, Broadcast and Digital, said: “The U19 Cricket World Cup is an important event in the global cricket calendar as it shines a light on the next generation of cricket stars. As such, the ICC in partnership with its official broadcast and digital partners and on its own digital platforms, will provide fans with every opportunity to follow the event on any platform via coverage on broadcast and digital, be it live, highlights, video clips, the fastest live scores, news and analysis. Previous editions of this event have provided a great platform for current cricket heroes like Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root and Sarfraz Ahmed to announce their arrival at the world stage and this comprehensive coverage will provide an opportunity for cricket to identify future stars and build new heroes”