Hampshire's Televised Matches in 2013 Confirmed

Feb 25 2013

Hampshire fans will be able to watch their team in action live on Sky Sports a minimum of six times in 2013 with the potential for a total of 14 Royals’ matches being shown throughout the Summer.

The Royals will definitely have four of their Yorkshire Bank 40 and two Friends Life t20 fixtures in front of the cameras, with the option for a maximum of another eight fixtures to be on TV depending on the team’s success in the three domestic competitions.

Yorkshire Bank 40:
After their heroics at Lord’s last season when Hampshire won the 40-over trophy, their opening Yorkshire Bank 40 match away to Essex on Friday 3 May will be the first domestic limited-overs match of the Summer to be broadcast. There will also be plenty of opportunity to see the Royals reunited with Simon Katich and Kabir Ali as the County has both competition fixtures against their former players’ new employers, Lancashire being broadcast on Wednesday 22 May (home) and Tuesday 20 August (away). The away match against Durham on Saturday 22 June completes Hampshire’s initial YB40 compliment.

However, there is also the opportunity for one final group match to be shown – the Royals clash away to Derbyshire on Monday 26 August – as well as the Semi Finals and Final.

Friends Life t20:
As defending Champions in the Twenty20 as well as the 40-over format, Hampshire will also have the privilege of kicking off the coverage of the shortest form of the game. Their opening FLt20 match against Surrey at The Ageas Bowl (Wednesday 26 June) will be a mouth-watering encounter as the Royals potentially look to take on the might of England and former Hampshire player Kevin Pietersen, South Africa captain Graeme Smith and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting – all of whom are expected to turn out for the Londoners this season. A potentially very important late group match away to Kent (Monday 29 July) is also to be televised.

Potential TV matches include the Royals’ final group fixture against Middlesex at The Ageas Bowl (Wednesday 31 July) as well as Quarter Finals and Finals Day (Semi Finals and Final).

LV= County Championship:
None of Hampshire’s LV=CC matches are guaranteed to be on Sky Sports but there is provision for one Championship fixture to be televised at the season’s climax between 24-27 September. Hampshire play Essex on those days and if, as hoped, they are pushing for promotion to Division One, this match could be the one Sky focus on.

In total, Sky Sports have announced details of the 60 domestic fixtures they are to broadcast live this summer, with each county being shown at least three times.

Paul King, Sky Sports’ cricket executive producer, said: “2013 is the year that cricket takes centre stage with the ICC Champions Trophy in England followed by back-to-back Ashes series and the domestic game has a chance to ride on that wave.

“Hampshire were the limited-overs kings last year but there will be a number of sides who fancy stealing that crown, while the championship will also be closely fought. We can't wait for it all to start in April.”

In addition to watching Sky Sports on TV, viewers will be able to watch all of the aforementioned matches on Sky Go, which allows customers to stream the footage on laptops, computers, tablet and mobile devices.

A full list of Hampshire’s confirmed and possible televised fixtures is included below:

*TBC

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Words: Simon Vincent
Images: LMI Photography