England fans to ‘listen to Australian commentary’ for Ashes as BT to stay in UK

England cricket fans who plan to watch this winter’s Ashes series on television will have to listen to Australian commentary, as BT Sport is not planning to send a commentary team, according to the Daily Mail.

Reports in August suggested that the sports channel had secured TV rights for the second successive Ashes overseas, after BT first covered it the last time Joe Root’s team headed to Australia for the 2017/18 event.

However, the key difference between this year’s coverage and England’s last trip to their arch rivals will be the commentary, as fans at home watching on TV will be listening to the host broadcast feed from Fox and Channel Seven.

Despite not sending commentators, BT Sport will still be providing a full punditry team that will operate from a studio in the UK, with England’s legendary former openers Alistair Cook and Andrew Strauss expected to feature.

While the Australian commentary box is set to be littered with their own greats including Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist, there will be some English representation via the voice of 2005 Ashes winning captain Michael Vaughan.

Despite having no dedicated TV commentary England fans will be able to listen to English commentary via radio, as the BBC will be sending a team led by Jonathan Agnew to Australia.

There were initial doubts over whether the event would be taking place at all due to struggles caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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However, the England Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed last week that the visitors will be heading to Australia to compete for the famous urn this December, subject to ‘several conditions’ being met ahead of travel.

The ECB said in a statement: “Over recent weeks we have made excellent progress in moving forward on the England Men's Ashes Tour.

“To facilitate further progress and allow a squad to be selected, The ECB Board has met today and given its approval for the tour to go ahead.

“This decision is subject to several critical conditions being met before we travel.”

The England setup followed this up by announcing their travelling squad for the winter series, as head coach Chris Silverwood named a 17-man team that will be led by skipper Root.

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