MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has entered into a five-year contract for the exclusive rights to broadcast Cricket Australia?s (CA) domestic and home international matches.

The telecast rights are across various platforms including television, internet, mobile and radio covering the entire Asian region.

As a part of this deal, the current Future Tours Program (FTP) sees ESPN Star Sports broadcasting more than 191 days of live International cricket action from Australia, including 27 Test Matches, 44 One Day Internationals and 12 Twenty20 games.

This broadcast deal with Cricket Australia will give ESPN Star Sports rights to showcase two India series. India is slated to play four test matches and a tri-series with England as the third team in the 2014-2015 season. This tri-series, featuring India, Australia and England and scheduled right before the ICC World Cup in 2015. India will visit Australia again for seven ODIs and two Twenty20 matches in the year 2015-2016.

Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said: ?We are delighted that a telecaster of ESPN Star Sports? standing and class will be putting Australian cricket in front of so many cricket fans. ESPN Star Sports has been a wonderful and innovative partner for a long while and to be able to extend this critical partnership is great news for us all as well as for the cricket loving public.?

Over the next five years, all of the leading teams will be visiting Australia. In addition to the Ashes between arch rivals England and Australia in the year 2013-2014 which, based on the current FTP, will see 5 test matches, 5 ODIs and 3 T20 matches, other top cricket nations including South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand will tour Australia to test their mettle in the fiercely competitive environment of cricket down under.

ESS MD Manu Sawhney said, ?We are very pleased to announce this partnership with Cricket Australia with whom we share a very strong relationship. Australian Cricket has always been exciting and is played with utmost competitiveness in a super charged atmosphere which makes for every fan?s delight. It is therefore not surprising that it is called the ultimate test for any cricket player.?

?This partnership with Cricket Australia is a testament to our commitment to serve our fans with more action packed cricket for years to come. With so many premium international series including two India tours and Ashes along with a robust mix of increasingly popular domestic tournaments, fans in the Indian sub-continent can look forward to top quality action from down under on ESPN Star Sports. Now, with such an enviable line-up of cricket including Cricket Australia, England & Wales Cricket Board, International Cricket Council and Champions League Twenty20, we are pleased to further strengthen our position as the biggest cricket network and the No.1 sports content provider in Asia.?

In addition to the international cricket action, ESS also plans to broadcast Cricket Australia?s domestic cricket over 280 days. This includes popular tournaments such as the KFC Big Bash T20, the 4 day Bupa Sheffield Shield tournament & the Ryobi One Day Cup.

The top two teams from this premier tournament qualify for the coveted Nokia Champions League Twenty20. Star performers also play for various club teams in the IPL.

India?s forthcoming tour of Australia starting December 26, 2011 will feature 4 Test matches, 2 Twenty20 matches and a tri-angular One day series with Sri Lanka as the third team. The tri-series will have as many as 15 one day internationals. All the matches of this series will be televised live on STAR Cricket and STAR Cricket HD and the tri-series will also be broadcast on ESPN.

Next year a lot of boards come up for renewal. ESS has to try and hold on to England which it is expected to do in the early part of 2012. Ten Sports has to hold on to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies. Of course the Pakistan rights value will depend on whether or not India plays its arch-rivals.

Earlier this year Ten Sports had renewed the rights to South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Then there is New Zealand. While MultiScreenMedia has those rights it sub licensed a tour of Pakistan to that country last year to Nimbus. Bangladesh comes up for renewal as well. Those rights are with Nimbus which also has the rights for India cricket.