The International Cricket Council (ICC) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have approved the use of a head-mounted camera on the short leg fielder, giving viewers a new Live TV experience. Images from the England-India Test, which begins on Friday, will begin to be broadcast (July 1).
“It is intended at giving the viewers a unique perspective from the middle of a Test match,” Robin Reeve, the senior producer of Sky Sports, told Cricbuzz on Thursday, the eve of the Birmingham Test.
Ollie Pope, an England close-in fielder, will display the camera on his helmet, and according to a Sky representative, the move has the approval of the England team’s captain and coach in addition to the boards. On June 30, while the England team was practising in the nets at the Edgbaston stadium, it was being tested.
“Ollie Pope has trialed it and is happy to have the camera on his helmet,” said Reeve, confirming the thumbs-up from Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, the captain and coach of England. There is, however, no immediate indication that an Indian short leg fielder too will mount the camera on his helmet. “It is to be confirmed,” said Reeve, “but unlikely.”