Test Match Special’s exclusive grip on summer Tests is under threat as English cricket explores bringing other stations into the fold.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is considering breaking up the BBC’s monopoly on the radio scene by inviting the likes of Talksport to broadcast alongside it.

The BBC currently has a wide-ranging set of deals with the ECB, which run from 2025 to 2028. They have exclusive radio rights for all men’s and women’s home internationals, digital highlight clips for their website and social media, and a TV highlights package of each day’s play.

In addition, they broadcast eight live matches in the men’s and women’s Hundreds and have radio rights for county cricket.

Next year, the ECB will go to market to tie up its TV and radio broadcast rights from 2029, which is likely to be on a four-year deal. This process will be led by new chief revenue officer Aarti Dabas.

It does not appear there is a credible rival to Sky’s grip on TV rights, but the radio scene is more open and Talksport is the leading contender to pick up rights alongside the BBC, as they serve different audiences.

Talksport has broadcast England tours overseas for almost a decade – and occasionally before then – including in South Africa, Sri Lanka, the Caribbean and India. Given the ongoing cutbacks at the BBC, it appears favourite to pick up the rights for this Christmas’s coveted Test tour to South Africa. It has also broadcast home Tests since last summer, but only for an international audience.

This winter, the ECB sent admiring glances to Australia, which has had multiple broadcasters airing cricket for some time. There are two TV broadcasts, one which is free-to-air on Channel 7 and one which is pay-TV on Fox. Both air live Tests.

Perhaps more relevant is the presence of three live radio broadcasts, each with a distinctive feel. ABC Grandstand, the public service broadcaster and the equivalent of the BBC, serves a traditional audience. SEN is a specialist sports station not dissimilar to Talksport, while Triple M takes a “blokey” approach. This helps cricket dominate the airwaves in high summer.

A senior ECB official told Telegraph Sport that when going to market next year, they have an “opportunity to be a lot more creative”, before adding: “It’s a question of what is the best way of maximising reach and value of rights.”

Losing exclusivity might mean a slight reduction in the BBC’s fee, although any new broadcaster would pay to broadcast Tests, which would at least make up the shortfall. Test Match Special remains extremely popular with listeners of various ages and the digital clips are a key part of their package.

It is understood that the ECB’s relationship with the BBC has become a little frosty in recent months, as the governing body were unhappy over a story published ahead of the Hundred auction that suggested Pakistani players would not be picked up by Indian-owned teams. In the end, Sunrisers Leeds – formerly Northern Superchargers – picked up the Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed.