How to Watch Cricket World Cup: England vs New Zealand
The men’s Cricket World Cup (CWC19) is almost over, and here at Tech Advisor we’ve had the time of our lives. Partly because we’ve been able to watch even more cricket than usual, and partly because pre-tournament favourites England have actually lived up to expectations – and are in the final!
Getting to the games has not been easy: tickets were snapped up in no time flat, and they’re not cheap either. Which means many fans will instead have to watch the final live on TV or online.
That’s where we come in. In this article we explain how to watch every single game of the Cricket World Cup 2019 live on TV or the internet (jump straight to our‘how to watch’ section), how to catchhighlightsafter the action’s finished, and how to listen live on the radio. For the big Test series after the cup’s finished, seeHow to watch England vs Australia cricket live.
The next match is the big one:
When does the Cricket World Cup take place?
From the opening match on 30 May to the final on 14 July.(Full schedule here.)
How many games are there?
There are 45 games in the Cricket World Cup group stage (in which every team plays every other team), then the two semi-finals and the final, for a total of 48.
That doesn’t appear to include the usual grim third-place playoff you get before most world cup finals, so we guess they’re not doing that.
Which channel will broadcast the Cricket World Cup 2019?
Sky Sports Cricket has the live coverage rights in the UK and Ireland, while Channel 4 has the UK highlights (although there are plenty of other ways to watch highlights,as we’ll explain later). As mentioned above, however, Sky has agreed to share its live coverage with Channel 4 for the final so that more people can watch. We think that’s pretty great.
Here are the channels that will be broadcasting coverage of the Cricket World Cup in other countries:
Afghanistan:Moby Media Group, plusHotstar.comweb streamingAustralia:Nine Network, Fox SportsBangladesh:Bangladesh Television, Gaza TV and Star SportsCanada:Asian Television Network, plus Hotstar.com web streamingEurope (Except UK & Ireland):Hotstar.com web streamingHong Kong:Star CricketIndia:Star Sports, DD Sports, plus Hotstar.com web streamingNew Zealand:Sky SportPakistan:Ten Sports Pakistan, PTV SportsSingapore:Star CricketSri Lanka:Star Sports, Dialog TV, plus Hotstar.com web streamingSouth Africa:SuperSportUS:Willow TV, plus Hotstar.com web streaming
Is the Cricket World Cup 2019 on free to air?
Mostly not, but because England have reached the final, this match alone will be made availableon free-to-air television.
As for the rest of the tournament, live radio commentary (on TMS) and post-game highlights (on Channel 4) can be enjoyed for free.
How to watch the Cricket World Cup 2019 in the UK
The final is being broadcast simultaneously on Channel 4, Sky One, Sky Sports Cricket World Cup (the rebranded version of what had been known previously as Sky Sports Cricket) and Sky Sports Main Event. The Channel 4 coverage will be interrupted partway through for the British Grand Prix, at which point coverage will switch temporarily to More4.
Channel 4 and More4 are free-to-air channels that can be accessed via a Freeview box oronline.
If you’re a Sky Sports subscriber, you can find Sky One on channel 106 (HD) or 806 (SD), Sky Sports Cricket World Cup on channel 404 and Sky Sports Main Event on channel 402.
Coverage starts at 9am, a full 90 minutes before play starts.
Subscribing to Sky Sports
Existing Sky customers can add all eight Sky Sports channels to their packagefor £23 per month– or, as part of a limited-time offer to coincide with the Cricket World Cup and the Ashes, you can just add Sky Sports Cricketfor £10 a month.
If you’re a Sky newcomer a basic packagestarts at £22 per month. Sky Sports Cricket then costsan extra £10on top of that for a selection of sports, or£23 for the lot.
Click here to look into Sky Sports packages.
Sky Q
Those are the prices for Sky’s standard packages, but serious cricket heads may be interested in the firm’s premiumSky Qservice, which starts at £13 per month (for the first 18 months – price will increase afterwards) and adds additional features. Have a look at our guide toSky Q pricing, bundles and featuresto read about those, or jump straight to theSky Q website.
How to watch with Now TV
If you don’t want to commit yourself to a Sky contract, Now TV may be a more appealing option. Now TV lets you pay for just one day, week or month of Sky Sports (or other packages), accessible via your browser, TV app or mobile app. The best thing is that Sky is doing another special offer here to coincide with the Cricket World Cup and Ashes this summer.
A Now TVday passcosts £8.99; aweek passis £14.99; and themonth passwill normally set you back £33.99 and roll on to the next month unless cancelled. (There’s also amobile passfor £5.99 per month, but avoid this like the plague – it’s great for football, NBA, rugby and horse racing, but doesn’t include cricket.)
However, until 9 June 2019 you can sign up toa special 4-month passto cover the entire summer for £100, which works out at just £25 a month.
Click here to view Now TV’s Sky Sports Pass packages.
How to use a VPN
If you happen to be overseas while some or all of the World Cup is happening – it is summer holiday season, after all – then consider a VPN. You can use a VPN to ‘browse from the UK’ and access your usual Sky Sports and Now TV subscriptions from abroad.
NordVPNis our top recommendation, but ourbest VPN chartrounds up several excellent alternatives that may be a better fit for you in terms of features and pricing.
How to watch free highlights
As mentioned, Channel 4 has the rights to show highlights in the UK and will broadcast these on the evening of each match, likely around midnight – you get around an hour per day, regardless of whether one or two matches were played, but it’s still by far the most in-depth highlights package available for free. You can catch up with any episodes you’ve missedon Channel 4’s website.
However, there are plenty of alternative ways of watching shorter and/or earlier highlights.
YouTube is always a good bet:the ICC YouTube pagehas shortish highlights (around 5 minutes) of each World Cup match. There will be unofficial highlights packages too if you’re prepared to search through all the cricket spam on YouTube. (We link to YouTube highlights of each completed match in theschedule section.)
The official Cricket World Cup websitehas a video sectionwith highlights ofEngland vs South Africaand other games.
Finally, Twitter is an excellent source of brief highlights in almost real time. We follow four main accounts for this –England Cricket,Sky Sports Cricket,WisdenandCricingif– but bear in mind that the TV rights vary and you may need to adapt on the fly. Check theCricket World Cup Twitter feed, too.
How to listen to the Cricket World Cup on radio
Live TV coverage is behind a paywall but radio coverage, as ever, is the saviour of broke cricket fans keen to hear the latest news. Radio commentary comes courtesy of the BBC’sTest Match Specialservice, which is available online and on digital via BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.
Check out thefull radio schedule here.
Cricket World Cup 2019 schedule
(England games highlighted with capitals. All times in local UK time, ie BST. YouTube links to highlights after completed matches.)
Author: David Price, Editor, Macworld
Connor is a technology writer and editor, with a byline on multiple platforms. He has been writing for around seven years now across the web and in print too. Connor has experience on most major platforms, though does hold a place in his heart for macOS, iOS/iPadOS, electric vehicles, and smartphone tech. Just like everyone else around here, he’s a fan of gadgets of all sorts. Aside from writing, Connor is involved in the startup scene, which puts him at the front of new and exciting tech - he is always on the lookout for innovative products.
