DUBAI: Rupert Murdoch’s Star group have bagged the broadcast rights for International Cricket Council (ICC) events to be held during an eight-year cycle after next year’s World Cup, the governing body said on Sunday.

Star India and Star Middle East have been jointly awarded the audio-visual rights for an undisclosed fee for the period from 2015-23, the ICC said in a statement.

“While the final value of the rights fee agreed will not be disclosed, it is significantly in excess of the ICC’s previous commercial deals,” the statement said.

The current rights for ICC events are with ESPN Star Sports, whose contract expires at the end of next year’s World Cup jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

The ICC said it had received 17 competitive bids after its tender and bidding process for the period, which will see 18 global events, including two 50-over World Cups, two Twenty20 World Cups and a same number of Champions Trophy events.

“This agreement guarantees more money for all our members, thereby underpinning the growth and development of the game,” ICC chief executive David Richardson said.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2014