BT Sport has announced the addition of Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen to their punditry team for the Australia v South Africa Test series next month. The two former England Test captains are joined by Graeme Swann, the former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, the BBC commentator Alison Mitchell and Radio 1’s Greg James as the anchor.
The subscription channel will make its cricketing debut when it covers the Proteas’ November tour. The coverage includes all of Australia’s Tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20 internationals played in Australia, as well as the Big Bash League. The channel will therefore show England’s 2017-18 Ashes tour down under.
Pietersen impressed in his stint as a pundit for India’s Star Sports during the 2015 Cricket World Cup shortly after his hopes of a recall to the England team were dashed by the ECB’s director of England cricket, Andrew Strauss, while Vaughan has worked alongside Swann and Mitchell on the BBC’s Test Match Special since his retirement in 2009.
BT Sport acquired the rights to broadcast Australian cricket after signing a deal with Cricket Australia last year, reportedly worth £80m.
