Cricket in England
Cricket in England is one of the most popular sports in the country and is known to have been played in England since the 16th century. The Marylebone Cricket Club, based at Lords, developed the modern rules of play and conduct.There are eighteen professional county clubs, seventeen of them in England and one in Wales. All eighteen counties are named after, and were originally representative of, historic counties. These clubs are heavily dependent on subsidies from the England and Wales Cricket Board, which makes its money from television and endorsement contracts and attendances at international matches. The English cricket season traditionally starts at the beginning of April and runs though to the second half of September although in recent years counties have played pre season friendly matches at the very end of March.
Cricket on 5
In June 2017 it was announced BBC Sport had secured rights to be the free to air partner of the ECB from 2020. The BBC will cover 11 live matches from the men's new city based T20 competition, 8 matches from the women's domestic T20 competition, 2 Live England Men's T20 Internationals & 2 Live Women's T20 Internationals. The BBC also secured the rights held by Channel 5 and will cover highlights of England Men's & Women's teams Test Matches, ODI & T20 internationals alongside live radio rights and clip rights for the BBC Sport website therefore Cricket on 5 rights will conclude at the end of the England domestic cricket season in September 2019 and Sunset and Vine association with cricket could end after 20 years on Channel 4 and Channel 5.