Disney+ has announced mid-year programming that should knock sports fans for six.
The digital platform will stream the Australian men’s team’s upcoming tour of the West Indies on ESPN, for sports fans across Australia and New Zealand.
Subscribers can tune in for every ball of every game, across five T20s and the Test series, the first of which starts June 26th.
Those dates will mark Australia’s first tour of the West Indies since 2015, with both teams competing for the Frank Worrell Trophy, awarded to the winner of the three Test series.
The tour will also be the first time the national team has featured on the ESPN networks in Australia.
Led by captain Pat Cummins, Australia and the Windies tied their 2024 Test series 1-1, with the visitor pulling off a famous victory at the Gabba in Brisbane, so often a fortress for the home team. On that occasion, Windies quick bowler Shamar Joseph did the damage.
Currently, Australia is competing with South Africa for the World Test Championship at Lord’s, a one-off final that’s streaming locally on Amazon Prime. When the match wraps up, the Aussies will head west to the Caribbean.
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The Australian team is enjoying a new golden era. Led by Cummins with the ball (and sometimes the bat), and Steve Smith, the mercurial batsman, who has dropped down the order in the WTC Final, Australia owns just about any trophy going in world cricket. Among them, the ICC World Test Championship and ICC ODI Cricket World Cup, The Ashes and more. Later in the year, Australia will take on the “old enemy”, England, for a home Ashes series.
Although well off the pace of the great Windies teams of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90, the current squad, led by newly appointed Test captain Roston Chase, is built on youth and has the talent to knock over any team.
ESPN has a strong commitment with international cricket. The sports network acquired Cricinfo, the specialist cricket website, from the Wisden Group in June 2007.
Disney+ announced in February that ESPN was coming to its platform in ANZ — the first English-speaking markets outside of North America to score the sports broadcaster’s content.
Australia’s 2025 tour of the West Indies
June 26 – June 30 — First Test: West Indies vs Australia (12am AEST)
July 4 – July 8 — Second Test: West Indies vs Australia (12am AEST)
July 13 – July 17 — Third Test: West Indies vs Australia (4.30am AEST)
July 21 — 1st T20: West Indies vs Australia (10am AEST)
July 23 — 2nd T20: West Indies vs Australia (10am AEST)
July 26 — 3rd T20: West Indies vs Australia (8am AEST)
July 27 — 4th T20: West Indies vs Australia (8am AEST)
July 29 — 5th T20: West Indies vs Australia (8am AEST)
All games streamed on ESPN.
