Pune, Nov. 29: Cameras were fitted in the Australian dressing room at the Woolloongabba in Brisbane where the first Ashes Test ended in a draw on Monday.
Television viewers who watched the Test match coverage on Channel Nine got to see Brad Haddin pulling on his gloves and warming up, Simon Katich standing around holding a helmet, ready to field in close and the coaching staff pacing up and down.
The addition of dressing-room vision has further broadened the Ashes coverage.
“As you may have seen from the Channel Nine telecast that reaches over 230 million households across five continents, including India, there was a camera in the corridor out of the Australian player room for about seven seconds as the players were preparing to walk out to play,” Peter Young, Cricket Australia general manager (Public Affairs) said from Brisbane.
“This was done in consultation with players, the International Cricket Council (ICC), the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) and, of course, the telecasters,” Young went on to point out.
“It operated at an agreed time, for an agreed time, to give fans a sense of the excitement building as an Ashes series was about to start.”
Additions to Nine’s cricket coverage in recent years have sought to give viewers the impression of being closer to the action.
They have also introduced communication with players during T20 matches and in-game heart-rate monitors.