ICC World Twenty20 comes to a TV set near you

The ICC World Twenty20 2010 about to get underway in the West Indies will be broadcast in more than 181 territories across six continents, it was confirmed today.

The 17-day tournament will feature 12 men's and eight women's teams with all the top international players in the world taking part and with tickets for the big event fast disappearing, fans who are unable to support their teams at the grounds will be afforded the best possible coverage courtesy of the ICC host broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports.

All 27 matches in the men's event will be covered live by ESPN STAR Sports while both women's semi-finals and the final will also be beamed around the globe giving similar exposure to women's Twenty20 cricket as it so successfully received at last year's event in England. In addition, live streaming of the broadcast will be available free of cost in 76 territories including India, China and Argentina on espnstar.com.

The commentary team includes some of the most insightful voices in the game including Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Harsha Bhogle, Alan Wilkins, Ramiz Raja, Ian Bishop, Simon Doull, Ian Chappell, David Lloyd, Nasser Hussain and Pommie Mbangwa. Also, following her highly successful stints commentating during the ICC Women's World Cup and ICC World Twenty20 last year, former Australia captain Melanie Jones will join the team for the women's matches.

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: "We expect the ICC World Twenty20 2010 to be another huge success and one of the more widely viewed cricket events in the history of the game as we enjoy the unique passion and enthusiasm for our great sport in the Caribbean.

"Apart from providing entertainment and economics for the global game, the ICC World Twenty20 is one of the ways we are reaching out and spreading the message of cricket across the world.

"ESPN STAR Sports's unrivaled coverage of the event brings the game to hundreds of millions of people across the world and helps to create excitement and interest where there was none before while intensifying the passion and great spirit where it already exists," said Mr Lorgat.

ESPN STAR Sports Managing Director Manu Sawhney said: "The ICC World Twenty20 is the most exciting and definitive Twenty20 international cricket event in the world and we are very pleased to bring the action to fans in over 181 territories across the globe through our networks, our syndication partners and specially with live streaming on espnstar.com in certain countries.

"To match the passion of fans for their favorite sport and to enliven the action, we have lined up the most entertaining match presentation. Our team of former leading international players and cricket experts backed by innovative and viewer friendly production will give fans a matchless cricket experience. As this property continues to grow with each edition, we are confident of further building on this growth and continue the trend of drawing new audiences from around the world."

ESPN STAR Sports commentator and former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri said: "The ICC World Twenty20 is a massive event. It generates huge interest not just among the cricket-playing nations but also attracts eyeballs from other nations as well. Twenty20 is a must in the ICC calendar as it will help the game to evolve and sustain other formats. The Caribbean is going to rock in what should be a very tight tournament."

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell said: "I'm looking forward to the ICC World Twenty20 tournament capturing the flavour of Caribbean cricket ? vibrant and colourful. I'm sure it will also provide for some highly competitive matches."

David Lloyd said: "The drama and unpredictability of the ICC World Twenty20 makes it a must-see event. This is our third and I'm sure it will be as exciting as the previous tournaments. I can't wait for it to begin."

ESPN STAR Sports will showcase the event with its world-class production and presentation package, having lined-up many engaging and entertaining production initiatives and a specialist commentary team for all the matches featuring international cricketing legends and experts from top cricket-playing nations.

In total, there will be 25 cameras used as standard during each match of the event in three venues in Guyana, St Lucia and Barbados. That is not including six Hawk Eye cameras that will give viewers an intimate perspective on all the key moments in the tournament.

ESPN STAR Sports' commitment to broaden the popularity of the sport has also ensured that the year's biggest cricket spectacle will be televised in many new and emerging markets around the globe, in addition to traditional cricketing nations, securing multi-year and multi-platform distribution deals with leading broadcast and telecommunication media organisations for the ICC World Twenty20 across the globe.

Close to 40 broadcasters will show the action in 181 territories across the world. Eurosport will broadcast the matches in 15 European languages across the continent while the event will be shown for the first time in Afghanistan via terrestrial broadcaster Lemar TV in the local languages of Pashto and Dari.