Cricket — Where to Watch

Cricket is unusually generous to the viewer, and it is worth understanding why. Most cricket rights are sold as two separate products: the rights to a national team’s home matches, and the rights to international tournaments run by the ICC. On top of that, India — the market that drives the value of the whole sport — has a statutory rule requiring coverage of certain matches to be shared with the public broadcaster. That combination produces more legally free cricket than any other major sport.

Country	Who shows it	Free option
UK	Sky Sports — England home Tests, ODIs and T20s to 2028, plus ICC events and all 68 matches of The Hundred.	BBC has daily Test highlights and carries 10 men’s and 8 women’s Hundred matches live. Channel 5 has two men’s and two women’s T20 internationals to 2028.
India	JioHotstar and the Star Sports channels — the BCCI deal to 2028, the IPL to 2027, ICC events, the SA20 and more.	Doordarshan, by law, for events of national importance: all India matches, knockout stages of ICC world cups, the Asia Cup from the Super Four, and the Olympics, Commonwealth and Asian Games.
Australia	Kayo Sports carries Australian and international cricket; Foxtel is the pay-TV arm.	7plus carries Tests and the Big Bash free with an account.
Pakistan	PTV Sports and Myco for television, with Tamasha, ARY Zapp and Tapmad on the digital side.	PTV is state-run and widely described as free-to-air; treat that as unverified. Tapmad’s subscription starts at PKR 499 a month.
Bangladesh	T Sports and Nagorik TV, with Rabbithole on digital.	T Sports is described as free-to-air for major matches, and also streams on YouTube.
South Africa	SuperSport on DStv, whose Premium tier is the only one carrying the full channel range.	None confirmed.
US	Split between services rather than held by one broadcaster; which of them carries a given series is best checked against the series itself.	None confirmed.
Caribbean & MENA	Regional rights vary widely. beIN Sports covers the MENA region as part of its broader portfolio.	None confirmed.

Can you watch it free?

In two places, substantially. India first: the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007 requires a holder of exclusive rights to a notified event of national importance to share the live feed with Prasar Bharati for Doordarshan and All India Radio. The notification was expanded in June 2026 and now covers all official Tests, ODIs and T20 internationals involving India men’s and women’s teams, ICC Tests involving India, the knockout rounds of ICC world cups, the Champions Trophy, the World Test Championship, and the Asia Cup from the Super Four onward. That is a very large amount of elite cricket, free by statute.

The UK is the other. Test highlights run daily on the BBC, The Hundred puts 18 matches a season on free television, and Channel 5 has a small live T20 package through 2028. It is not the whole summer, but it is more than a highlights-only deal.

The World Cup exception is not universal. Listed-events rules that force free coverage of football or the Olympics do not automatically cover cricket. India’s rule is unusually specific and unusually strong; the UK and Australian equivalents are much narrower. Assume nothing.

The cheapest legal route

UK, Tests only. BBC highlights cost nothing, and the licence you may already hold covers them.
UK, everything. Sky Sports through NOW, where a day pass at £14.99 is cheaper than a month if you want one match.
India. A JioHotstar mobile plan at ₹79 a month is the cheapest tier, though the ad-supported mobile tier excludes Hollywood content. Doordarshan remains free.
Australia. 7plus is free, and it is the strongest free cricket offer outside India.
Pakistan. Tapmad at PKR 499 a month, with a first-month promotional rate that has been offered at PKR 99.

One warning about the digital side in South Asia: the ICC’s 2026 tournament was carried by different platforms in nearly every country, including some regional services that are not widely known outside the region. If you are looking for a specific series, the ICC’s own broadcast announcements are more reliable than any aggregator, including this one.

Is cricket free to watch in India?

A significant amount of it, yes. Under the 2007 mandatory sharing Act, coverage of notified events must be shared with Doordarshan — including all India internationals, the knockout stages of ICC world cups and the Asia Cup from the Super Four. Everything else sits on JioHotstar.

Where can I watch the Ashes legally?

In the UK, Sky Sports has England home Tests to 2028 and the BBC has daily highlights. In Australia, 7plus carries Tests free and Kayo carries them as part of its subscription. Which broadcaster holds an away series depends on the host board, not on the touring side.

Does the BBC show live cricket?

Some. It carries 10 men’s and 8 women’s matches of The Hundred live, plus daily highlights of England Test matches. Live Tests and ODIs are on Sky Sports.

Why is cricket rights so complicated?

Because it is sold twice over. Each national board sells its own home matches, and the ICC sells its tournaments separately, so a single season involves several different broadcasters in the same country.

Where to go next

Watching sport in India in the UK in Australia in South Africa Free live streams