How to watch cricket online from anywhere — August 2026
Tests, domestic and franchise cricket can all be streamed globally — and sometimes for free
Watch cricket live streams
Thanks to its popularity across all time zones around the planet, you can pretty much guarantee that a game of professional cricket is playing somewhere on any given day — from the Australian summer spanning November to January, through to the IPL window of March to May, and then the English season from April to September.
And there really is something for all types of cricket fan. Purists will always favor the gruelling rigor of traditional Test cricket, while the free flowing, six-hitting razzmatazz of T20 franchise cricket has helped to nurture a new generation of enthusiasts.
Looking to tune into a match right now? Follow our guide below for where to watch cricket online from anywhere with a VPN.
Cricket in August
Find your key cricket streams for the month of August, with The Hundred, Australia vs Bangladesh, Sri Lanka vs India and England vs Pakistan headlining the month
Event |
UK Stream |
US Stream |
Free Stream |
The Hundred (21 July - 16 August) |
▶︎ Sky Sports ▶︎ BBC Sport (FREE) |
▶︎ BBC Sport (UK) |
|
Australia vs Bangladesh Test Series (13-26 August) |
▶︎ DAZN (FREE) |
||
Sri Lanka vs India Test Series (15-27 August) |
▶︎ TNT Sports |
▶︎ DD Sports (India) |
|
England vs Pakistan Test Series (19 August - 13 September) |
▶︎ Sky Sports |
▶︎ PTV Sports (Pakistan) |
How to watch cricket online for free
While a lot of cricket is hidden behind a paywall these days, there is still much that is shown for free in certain regions.
A great example is the mega popular Indian Premier League — more commonly known as the IPL. Every daily game of the two-month tournament is streamed for free on the Cricbuzz website and app (iOS / Android) in select MENA countries such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain.
The free-to-air ICC.tv shows every match of ICC events likes World Cups in a wide selection of countries across the planet — from Afghanistan to Vietnam. This list has the countries with free ICC.tv coverage.
In the UK, 16 games of The Hundred are shown on the free-to-air BBC and iPlayer, including the men's and women's finals. County Championship games can largely be streamed on YouTube. And, although most international action is on Sky Sports or TNT Sports, Saudi-backed sports streamer DAZN has recently entered the market with free streams.
Australia continues to put all of their home Tests, ODIs and T20Is on free-to-air TV and the 7plus streaming platform, as well as away Ashes series on 9Now. And if you do end up bumping into a match that's being shown on Foxtel, Kayo Sports offers a 7-day free trial to watch all the action there.
Outside these countries when the cricket's on? Use NordVPN to unlock your free stream from anywhere in the world.
Watch cricket live streams from anywhere
You won't be able to watch your cricket live stream while traveling abroad. The streaming service will spot that you're in a foreign country and block you.
You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch your chosen cricket live streams from anywhere in the world.
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Watch cricket live streams in the US
Willow TV / Sling TV: The overwhelming amount of cricket action shown in the US — including ICC World Cup tournaments, the IPL and Ashes Test matches — goes out on the dedicated Willow TV. It's available from a number of cable providers (e.g. Dish, Spectrum, Xfinity, Verizon Fios) or as a standalone service costing $10 per month or $80 for a whole year.
Don't have cable? OTT provider Sling TV includes Willow as part of several plans such as Desi Binge Plus and Dakshin Flex, costing from $10 a month. You don't even need a full Sling plan and you cancel at any time. You can check out your options and sign up on its website.
ESPN app: US sports giant ESPN occasionally has the rights to show cricket, but the matches it shows are few and far between with Willow getting the majority. Recent action has included internationals hosted in the West Indies and New Zealand. To watch online, you'll need a subscription to the ESPN app, starting from $13 a month.
To access your usual streaming services from outside the US, you'll need to download a good VPN, as detailed above.
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Watch cricket live streams in the UK
Sky Sports: Sky Sports subscribers get the majority of cricket in the UK. As well as carrying all of England's men's and women's internationals, it also has the rights to all ICC tournaments until 2031, domestic cricket from the T20 Blast, The Hundred and One Day Cup, and global franchise competitions such as the IPL, CPL, PSL and Lanka Premier League. Not got Sky? Plans with the Sports channels start from £35 a month, or choose a Now Sports Membership for more flexible plans.
TNT Sports: Sky's main pay-for rival, TNT Sports has recently specialized in showing England men's overseas tours — the 2025-26 Ashes in Australia, for example. It has also picked up the rights to show the home games of the India national team. TNT can be added to plans from TV providers like Sky, Virgin Media or EE, or get it online through HBO Max.
BBC & iPlayer (free): Long gone are the days where free-to-air broadcasters have had the rights to show a full summer of cricket. Instead, the BBC is now limited to just 16 games of The Hundred.
DAZN (free for selected events): As it continues to extend its global reach, sports streaming specialist DAZN has now begun to show cricket in the UK — beginning with the Australia vs Bangladesh Test series in 2026, which it streamed absolutely free!
YouTube (free): All cricket counties (with the exception of, at the time of writing, Lancashire) provide a live stream of their County Championship games for free on YouTube.
Outside the UK during the match you want to watch? Use NordVPN to watch the cricket as if you were back at home.
Watch cricket live streams in Australia
Channel 7 & 7Plus (free): Due to Australia's so-called "Anti-siphoning laws", there's a lengthy list of cricket matches that have to be shown on free-to-air TV Down Under. Channel 7 and its 7plus streaming platform have the rights to show most of them, including home Tests, ODIs and T20Is, and World Cup matches featuring the Aussies played in either Australia or New Zealand. Selected Big Bash League (BBL) coverage also goes out on 7.
Nine Network & 9Now (free): Nine pipped 7 to the post to bag the coverage of the next two away Ashes series in 2027 and 2031.
Foxtel / Kayo Sports (free trial): Virtually all cricket that doesn't end up on the above free-to-air avenues ends up on Foxtel channels. If you want to watch online then the alternative is Kayo Sports, which starts at $30 a month and allows new customers to try their first month for just $1 or seven days for free. Tournaments include the IPL, comprehensive BBL coverage, Sheffield Shield, and a host of international matches.
Prime Video (free trial): Amazon entered the cricket market with a splash by landing the rights to show ICC tournaments like the various men's and women's World Cups and biennial World Test Championship final. Anybody new or returning after a while to Prime can get 30 days for free.
Again, you'll need to use a safe, reliable VPN to access these streaming services when traveling outside Australia.
Watch cricket live streams in India
Star Sports / JioHotstar: Star Sports has become the dominant player in the cricket broadcast market in India, and now has the rights to virtually all the major series and tournaments played over the course of each year. IPL is the big daddy in its native India, of course, with JioStar paying a massive amount to secure the rights. It also shows India's home internationals, ICC events, and internationals played by Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.
Subscriptions to JioHotstar start from just Rs. 79 a month (around $0.85 USD). You can just get an annual package for just Rs. 499 ($5.25 USD).
Sony Sports Network: Sony used to be a much bigger player on the cricket broadcast landscape in India, but now has relatively few events to show. India's recent tour to England was an example of one tour it showed, but they are few and far between now.
FanCode: Occasionally the online FanCode manages to acquire rights. It's the place to go, for example, for franchise competitions like the CPL and regional Indian T20 leagues. It gets the odd international Test series, too, like Afghanistan's 2026 tour of India. A monthly pass costs Rs. 199 ($2.10 USD).
Anyone outside of India who wants to watch their home cricket coverage can just pick up a good VPN.
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Adam is a freelance writer with a decade of journalism experience behind him. He's written for a broad range of publications and websites on subjects from sport (The Cricketer, Golf Monthly), TV (TechRadar, WhatToWatch, CinemaBlend) and consumer affairs (Which?), to tech (T3.com, Tom's Guide) and lifestyle (Real Homes and Creative Bloq). Cricket, cooking, crooning and keeping chickens have him occupied when not writing.
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