Cape Town - SuperSport is hauling out the big guns for the international cricket season with top analysts, the latest technology and unprecedented camera numbers designed to take broadcasts into another realm.
Former England captain Michael Atherton will be joined by countrymen Ian Botham, Nasser Hussain, Nick Knight and David Lloyd in the commentary box for England’s tour of South Africa.
The local contingent will include Pommie Mbangwa, Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith, HD Ackerman and Kepler Wessels, among others, with Mike Haysman and Michael Holding offering international perspective.
Test matches and ODIs will each benefit from the use of 34 cameras, the most ever, with four super-slomos and two ultra-motion cameras.
Hawk-Eye’s UltraEdge technology for DRS will be utilised for the entire tour, which includes four Test matches, five one-day internationals and two T20 internationals, starting on December 26 and concluding almost two months later, on February 21.
Hawk-Eye’s UltraEdge is the first technology to be independently tested by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC). UltraEdge combines Hawk-Eye’s ultra-motion cameras with audio from the stump microphones to definitively show whether the ball has hit the bat. The high-frame rate cameras are able to differentiate more clearly over sound created by bat, pads or clothing.
All the tour games will be broadcast in High Definition with both English and Afrikaans commentary. Afrikaans commentators include Fanie de Villiers, Boeta Dippenaar, Shafiek Abrahams, Kotie Grove and Jeremy Fredericks.
SuperSport will also make liberal use of augmented reality to add substance to its analysis.
Moreover, the traditional lunchtime show will make use of many of the experts, thrashing out prevailing cricket issues and the game at hand.
With partners Cricket South Africa, SuperSport is looking to make the 2015/16 international season one to remember.
Haroon Lorgat, CSA chief executive, commented: “SuperSport is one of the best broadcasters in the world and an institution that South Africans can be very proud of. With their professionalism and quality coverage they have set a high standard which our cricket loving public thoroughly enjoys. Long may this continue with CSA as partners.”