Cricket fans can now follow the action of the Ashes Tour live on their computer, thanks to the new online 'Ashes Club' cricket service being launched today by BTopenworld and leading cricket web site CricInfo.com, on the English Cricket Board's (ECB) official site at www.ecb.co.uk.

The deal is the first in a series of major online subscription content rights deals that BTopenworld is set to roll out over a select number of genres in the next 12 months. Available from 5th July, the new subscription service - available on broadband and narrowband - costs just a one off subscription fee of £14.99 including VAT and acts like a 'virtual season ticket'. Fans who subscribe to the service before 7th July will receive a £5 discount.

In addition to audio commentaries - which will remain accessible to all registered users - customers will be able to access video highlights of the npower Ashes Test Series, available within minutes of the end of each session. Prior to the start of each day's play, extended highlights of the previous day will also be online. The service can also be accessed from anywhere in the world.

Special audio programmes from CricInfo's commentary team, including live discussions and audio highlights, will also be part of the Ashes Club service. Competitions to win tickets to the Tests, autographed memorabilia, merchandise discounts - as well as the opportunity to play a game of cricket at an international venue at the end of the summer - will be available exclusively to members of the club.

Alex Balfour, Business Development Director of CricInfo.com, said: "The Ashes is without doubt the biggest sports event of the summer. The introduction of the 'Ashes Club' will make accessible for the online cricket fan, wherever they are in the world."

John Raczka, Senior Vice President of Content at BTopenworld, comments: "In delivering this service, sports fans across the country and abroad now have the opportunity to enjoy all the cricket action live online. Now that sports rights-holders like the English Cricket Board have made multimedia rights available, we are in a position to forge similar content deals with partners in the near future."

For further information, please contact:
Graham McKechnie, CricInfo
Tel: 01249 700733, Email: graham@cricinfo.com

For BTopenworld, please contact Nickie Farrington or Annabelle Chalker at Band & Brown Communications on 020 7419 7000 or email nfarrington@bbpr.com

ABOUT BT OPENWORLD

BTopenworld is a mass market Internet business delivering services to more than 1.3 million customers in the UK through BTinternet and BTopenworld Broadband. BTinternet is the UK's joint leading Internet service provider offering customers a choice of payment options to suit their Internet needs, including BTinternet Anytime which provides customers with access to the Internet 24 hours per day and seven days per week for £14.99 per month (including VAT) with no additional Internet call charges. BTopenworld Broadband, the UK's leading provider of broadband services, delivers high speed Internet services to consumer and business customers. Its products include a choice of download speeds, from up to 500kbps to up to 2Mbps, single or multi-user set-ups for PC or Mac, and static or dynamic IP addresses. BTopenworld also offers many other Internet services to support customer's online experience, including email services, SpeechMail (charged at NationalCall rates), Cyberpatrol, a WAP portal and more. Andy Green is the chief executive officer of BTopenworld and Ben Andradi is chief operating officer.

ABOUT CRICINFO LIMITED

CricInfo Limited is the world's leading digital cricket information company. CricInfo's web site, www.cricinfo.com, is the most popular cricket site in the world and is among the internet's most popular sports sites, estimated to reach more than fifteen million fans in 180 countries.

The site records around 100 million page impressions for per month, with March 2001's total of 254,599,866 (audited by ABC) being the highest to date.

CricInfo has its Head Office in the UK, with regional offices in Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Satyam Infoway Limited (NASDAQ: SIFY), India's leading internet services and e-commerce company, acquired a 25% stake in CricInfo in May 2000.

CricInfo works with cricket boards and cricket organisations, blue chip companies and the media to deliver cricket content for a wide range of different platforms. It currently produces official sites for eight of the ten Test-playing countries, for the ICC and for a number of domestic teams worldwide.