Minister hints no change to Ashes TV coverage

New sports minister Hugh Robertson has given a strong hint that the Conservative government will abandon plans to put home Ashes Tests back on free-to-air TV.

The previous Labour government appeared to be backing proposals to return cricket to terrestrial TV, which created much opposition from the ECB and counties which feared a major loss of income, but when a decision wasn't made before the general election there was always a chance the plans would change.

Robertson also suggested that the current tough economic conditions mean that sporting bodies should be allowed to maximise their revenues, although he urged them to look at income streams away from the multi-million pound world of TV rights.

"The previous Government did this for political purposes but then didn't include it in their manifesto which is interesting," Robertson told the Wisden Cricketer website. "Since then the economic situation has deteriorated quite sharply. Big public expenditure cuts will impact in sport so the way to equalise that is to give them [governing bodies] the freedom to market their own rights."

Since 2006 all live England cricket in the UK has been shown on BSkyB with highlights of home internationals available on Five. The recent IPL was shown on ITV4, a digital channel which is available over free platforms.