Seven has revealed its lineup of new signings to its 7Cricket commentary team for the upcoming Summer of Cricket, live on Seven and for the first time, streaming on 7plus.
Aaron Finch leads the roster of new recruits, including:
• 7Cricket’s captain, Ricky Ponting, who continues his expert commentary role with Seven, signing a long-term deal with the network.
• Former Indian captain and opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar signs on for Seven’s coverage of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy
• Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc joins Seven’s coverage of the Women’s Ashes
• Rachel Khawaja makes her 7Cricket debut, reporting direct from Test match venues for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Finch’s Seven stint will begin with the first two Test matches of the border-Gavaskar Trophy, in Perth and Adelaide and the 2024-25 Big Bash League (BBL) season.
Ricky Ponting
Finch will also host this Sunday’s WBBL and BBL Draft alongside Seven’s Lisa Sthalekar and Andy Maher, live and free on 7mate, 7two and 7plus from 3.00 pm AEST.
Ahead of a fiery Summer of Cricket on Seven, Ponting said: “I’m so thrilled to have locked in with my 7Cricket family long term.
“I love the team we work with on and off air and can’t wait for an epic Test Series against India and another massive season of Big Bash.”
Gavaskar will return to Seven’s coverage for all five test matches within the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Series, as the travelling side looks to clinch victory from Australia following their historic upset in 2020-21.
Starc will join the commentary team for Seven’s Women’s Ashes coverage for white ball matches, starting at North Sydney Oval on 12 January on Seven and 7plus.
Rachel Khawaja will join Seven’s Australia v India Test Series coverage, connecting viewers with the people closest to the Australian cricket teams’ players – their families.
Seven Network director of sport, Chris Jones, said: “Ahead of the first Australian Summer where everyone can stream the cricket for free, we are excited to welcome so many new faces to our 7Cricket family, including the BBL’s most popular player, Aaron Finch.
“Having worked with Finchy across our coverage in recent seasons, we know he’s a natural commentator who can take us behind the play like nobody else. As a captain, he saw ahead of the game and will bring that to his commentary across our Test and BBL coverage this season.
“Ricky Ponting is in our opinion, the world’s best expert commentator, and we are so thrilled to continue to share his unrivalled insights with Australian viewers. He is the captain of our commentary team and has led from the front both on and off air since his arrival at Seven,” he said.