The England and Wales Cricket Board has called a press conference for 11.30am today to announce the deal covering 2006-2009 for TV rights for all international and domestic cricket matches.
There are two options for the ECB to choose from. One is very similar to the current deal, which would see Channel 4 and Sky divide up the rights, with the England home internationals available on the terrestrial channel and England away games on Sky.
The second option is to sell the exclusive rights to Sky, which it is believed would generate an extra £20m in revenue on top of the existing three-year £40m package.
The ECB was believed to be split between taking the extra money and ensuring that the game is available to the widest audience. It had originally been expected to announce its decision at the beginning of November.
Its former chairman Lord MacLaurin said yesterday: "I hope that the ECB management are sensible and look at the long-term future of the game. I hope they balance it between satellite and terrestrial."
The BBC had TV cricket rights for decades until 1999, when Channel 4 won them away and became the main broadcaster with Sky.
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