The deal, which runs from 2003-2005, represents an increase of 57 per cent over the final three years of the current four-year contract and is valued at close to #150m ($214m), which includes off-air as well as on-air marketing spend.
In international cricket, the agreement covers the Zimbabwe and South African tour in 2003, the visit of New Zealand and the West Indies in 2004 and the series against Bangladesh and Australia in 2005. Channel 4 will continue to broadcast live coverage of six of the seven npower Test Matches, with Sky Sports broadcasting live coverage of one npower Test Match and the entire NatWest Series of one-day internationals.
In domestic cricket, Sky Sports will continue its coverage of the Norwich Union League, Benson & Hedges Cup and CricInfo Championship, as well as England Under 19 and England Women's Internationals, while both Sky Sports and Channel 4 will broadcast selected Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy matches.
The new deal confirms the ECB's commitment to keeping a balance of cricket on terrestrial and satellite television. The TV contract will terminate simultaneously with the current BBC Radio contract.
Terry Blake, ECB commercial director, said: "This is a great day for cricket.
?Channel 4 and Sky Sports have been excellent partners of ours and I congratulate them both for their success in modernising the broadcast of televised cricket.
"In particular, this news is a big fillip for the grassroots development of the game.
?The ECB currently spends 11 per cent of its TV money on grassroots development - a figure already in excess of the five to ten per cent figure the government would like to see invested by sport?s governing bodies in the medium term.
The increased revenue of the new deal will greatly enhance our future development activities."
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has agreed a three-year extension to its current television contracts with terrestrial broadcaster Channel 4 and pay-TV channel Sky Sports.
