Port Elizabeth: Widespread television and radio coverage has been secured for the next five years as part of R108-million deal between the national broadcaster, the SABC, and the United Cricket Board it was announced yesterday.

In what is the second major announcement of its kind in three months, the UCB have closed sponsorship deals worth more than R225-million and designed to safeguard the playing as well as broadcasting interests of the game into the new century.

Which means there will not be a repeat of the debacle earlier this season when the first Test in Bloemfontein between South Africa and Zimbabwe when there was no ball-by-ball commentary and almost 5000 angry listeners, who called theAuckland Park headquarters during a three-hour period, were switched to an answering service.

The SABC response was to do a patch up job for the rest of the Test and not make the same mistake when the first Test of the five-match series between South Africa and England started at the Wanderers two weeks ago. There will also be ball-by-ball commentary of Tests and limited-overs international games abroad.

The tie up between the UCB and the national broadcaster has, to a point, plugged a gap in the UCB?s policy to spread the sport throughout the country.

It also means the SABC will now give a regular half-hour spot which will mainly deal with the development programme.  

Molefe Mokgatle, the SABC?s chief executive for television, the man who thought ball-by-ball commentary reached only an elite audience, seems to have now changed his tune.

The deal runs from April 1 until March 31, 2005 and the first games broadcast under the arrangement are to be the three South Africa matches against Australia. Another part of the deal allows for e-TV to be sub-licensed to broadcast games, likely to be the one-day slogs, if SABC are unable to broadcast matches.

© CricInfo