FORMER Worcestershire chief executive David Leatherdale has welcomed a new deal which will see some live cricket return to free-to-air television in the UK from 2020.

The BBC has won the rights for 21 matches each summer, while Sky Sports held off stern competition from BT Sport to remain its status as the sport's primary broadcaster.

The deal will see the BBC show two Twenty20 internationals, one women's T20 international, 10 games from the new T20 competition and eight from the women's equivalent.

The BBC has also guaranteed a primetime slot for highlights packages of all other England matches.

The England and Wales Cricket Board announced the results of its next five-year rights package, covering the 2020-2024 period, today and hailed the new arrangement which will bring in a bumper windfall of £1.1billion.

English cricket has not been available live on free-to-air TV since the 2005 Ashes series, shown by Channel 4, and was last seen on the BBC in 1999.

Leatherdale, now the Professional Cricketers' Association chief executive, said: "It is the players who provide the entertainment, who help to inspire others to get involved in cricket and whose willingness to accept and adapt to changes in the structure of professional cricket will be significant in helping the ECB to grow the game at all levels.

"Our conversations with the ECB around those developments are continuing alongside discussions about the benefits that the new media rights deal will bring to all PCA members, whether they are a centrally-contracted England player or a player in the first year of their county contract."

Test Match Special, which celebrated its 60th anniversary this summer, will continue to be part of the landscape with BBC Radio winning exclusive radio rights.

Sky Sports will remain the home of all live Test, one-day and T20 internationals, as well as the county game, though BT Sport's entry into the market helped drive the cost far beyond the existing £75million-a-year deal. A dedicated Sky Cricket channel is expected to follow.