Sky Sports has won the rights to show England’s tour against Pakistan this October.
The rights include England’s three Tests with Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, as well as five ODIs and three T20 internationals. The first Test takes place in Abu Dhabi on 13 October.
Sky announced the deal on Friday afternoon and is believed to have beaten off competition from rivals BT, who earlier this week scooped the rights to the next Ashes and all Australian games for the next five years.
Sky’s new deal means that, despite the loss, it remains the UK’s biggest broadcaster of live cricket and ensures its subscribers can follow Alastair Cook’s Ashes winners on their next endeavour.
Sky Sports Managing Director Barney Francis said: “It was a fantastic Ashes summer on Sky Sports, more than 5m people watched our coverage and now we look forward to seeing the evolution of the England team as they head into the winter tours.
”From the New Zealand series through to the Ashes we saw the development of a number of young players stepping up, and over the next five years with more than 50 England Tests, Sky Sports will be the place to watch them develop, beginning with this winter series against Pakistan and then South Africa.”