Sky Sports have reported another surge in viewing figures for this summer’s Ashes, with records broken in the men’s and women’s series.

The satellite broadcaster brought in an average viewership of 965,000 across the four days at Headingley last week, the highest ever for a Test.

Remarkably, it was also up 56 per cent on the third Test of the 2019 Ashes – which grabbed the attention during a thrilling Ben Stokes-inspired climax but attracted a much smaller audience in the early stages of the match.

Despite competition from the British Grand Prix and Wimbledon, England’s successful run chase on day four hit a high of 2.05million.

That made it the broadcaster’s third highest day on record behind the Headingley finale four years ago and the last day at Edgbaston this summer.

The average audience across the 14 days of action sits at 878,000, which marks a 45 per cent rise on the last Ashes series.

Heather Knight’s England side is also raising the bar in the women’s game. Their five-wicket win at Lord’s peaked at 795,000, the highest ever for a women’s T20 international, and averaged 285,000.

Their Ashes Test against Australia saw viewing figures almost 400 per cent higher than the 2019 series, with the T20 series up 135 per cent.

Rory Dollard
(Australian Associated Press)