Cricket Australia rejects Channel 9’s claims of influencing team selection

Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland has said that team selection and scheduling were matters for the governing body © Getty Images

Sydney: Jun 19, 2013

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Cricket Australia (CA) has rejected claims by Channel 9 that it would influence team selection and scheduling as part of its new deal on TV rights.

The channel’s managing director Jeff Browne said that as part of the network’s 400 million dollars deal for international cricket rights, he expected to have a say in both matters.

But CA Chief Executive James Sutherland rejected the deal’s impact, especially on the Australian national selection issues.

According to news.com.au, Sutherland said that cricket has a long-standing and successful relationship with the Nine Network, but team selections and scheduling are matters for CA.

Browne said that trend was a real worry for the network, which has owned Australian cricket’s television rights since Kerry Packer’s World Series revolution in the mid 1970s, the report said.

It is understood there is no formal agreement in the record contract, signed in early June.