Sky Sports county cricket schedule released

Sky Sports has announced 50 county matches today. 

The broadcaster aims to show every team and provide programming on the three domestic competitons - the NatWest T20 Blast, the Royal London One-Day Cup and the LV= County Championship.

Coverage begins with the NatWest T20 Blast on Friday 15 May, as current champions Birmingham Bears face Notts Outlaws.

Pub viewers will be able to see a host of in-form stars such as Brendon McCullum, who plays for the Birmingham Bears, and Glenn Maxwell, who plays for the Yorkshire Vikings and other famous big hitters like Chris Gayle, Kumar Sangakkara and Shahid Afridi.

Bryan Henderson, Sky Sports executive producer for cricket, said: “With a host of stars from the World Cup having joined county teams, there’ll be lots of big hitting and quality domestic cricket live on Sky this summer.”

Sky will also show the Roses match between Yorkshire and Lancashire on Friday 5 June as well as all three championship games on finals day, Saturday 29 August.

Other cricket highlights for pub viewers includes the IPL, England's tour of the West Indies, ODI against Ireland, the series against New Zealand - and the Ashes.

The news follows Sky Sports extension of its broadcast partnership with the England & Wales Cricket Board by two years - taking the deal to 2019. 

Schedule:

International coverage

County coverage