The move means fans are likely to have to subscribe to a satellite or cable channel, such as Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB, if they want ball-by-ball coverage of the five-day Tests, now provided by the BBC.
But minister Chris Smith said he was making three additions to the list, which already includes "jewel in the crown" events such as the Grand National steeplechase, the finals of the Wimbledon tennis championships, the Olympic Games and the FA soccer cup final.
The new events are the European soccer tournament finals, the Rugby Union world cup final and the Rugby League Challenge Cup final.
Smith, the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, said his decision to remove cricket tests from the list was in response to requests from the game's authorities.
He said any cable or satellite channel that won the rights to broadcast the games would be expected to allow a terrestrial channel to broadcast "a substantial proportion" of them live.
Lord MacLaurin, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, said he was delighted.
"This gives cricket the opportunity to provide much-needed extra investment in the game while still maintaining a good balance in our broadcasting arrangements," he said.
Alec Stewart, captain of the England team that crashed to defeat in last weekend's second test against South Africa, said funding from a new television deal would help club and school-level cricket and improve playing standards.
But politicians opposed to the move accused Smith of caving in to Prime Minister Tony Blair, who they said was desperate to avoid further attacks by Murdoch's newspapers.
The top-selling Sun, which had backed Blair's Labour Party at last year's election, suddenly turned on him this week, asking whether he was "the most dangerous man in Britain" because of his sympathy for the idea of the European single currency.
"You have got a prime minister who is beleaguered by the Sun at the moment and who would clearly like to do some favours to restore the special relationship he has with those newspapers," Conservative member of parliament Roger Gale told BBC radio.
John Grogan, a Labour MP who has lobbied for cricket on terrestrial television, said Smith's decision was "deeply disappointing".
"Half of Britain's pensioners tune into test match cricket on the BBC at some time or other over the summer. Many of them aren't going to be able to afford satellite or cable," he said.
Reuters
The UK government has removed England's home cricket international matches from the list of events that terrestrial television stations can cover freely.
