At the same time, Vodafone is reported to be withdrawing its sponsorship of the England team during the tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The Cricket World Cup is listed as a "group B event" by the Independent Television Commission. This means that the rights for highlights or deferred coverage of the final, semi-final and matches involving home nations' teams must be offered to free-to-air channels with national coverage.
The ITC said it was satisfied that Sky had given the relevant free-to-air channels a genuine opportunity to show highlights.
The Cricket World Cup has already sparked a furore over whether or not the England team should boycott matches to be held in Zimbabwe. While the government is pressing the England and Wales Cricket Board to withdraw from the tournament, the ECB is worried about the financial impact on the game in the country if it fails to meet its obligations and play the matches.
With England fresh from a drubbing at the hands of the Australian cricket team in the Ashes, there is a dismal feeling about cricket in the UK, although England managed to save face by winning the fifth and final test.
As far as Vodafone's sponsorship of the England cricket team goes, it has run into conflict because a South African mobile phone provider MTN is a sponsor of the tournament. However, rumour has it that the company wants to avoid being involved in the controversy that will inevitably surround the England team if it decides to go ahead with matches in Zimbabwe.
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