Player Zone, the Lord's Hum' and Buggy Cam: Innovations abound as COVID-safe Test cricket returns to Sky Sports By Will Strauss, Editor
Friday, July 10, 2020 - 10:01
Print This Story
International cricket returned this week with the start of the first Test between England and West Indies, a game that was made possible thanks to the teams, match officials and TV crew staying in bio-secure bubbles.
But the health and safety regulations and social distancing that have been put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic didn't just impact on how and where players could train and play.
They also prompted the host broadcaster and UK rights holder for the series, Sky Sports, and its facilities suppliers, to come up with new and innovative COVID-safe ways of providing the TV coverage for viewers at home: something that has taken an awful lot of planning and preparation and not a little ingenuity.
Crowd Sound One of the issues Sky has had to deal with, of course, is the lack of crowd, and therefore natural atmosphere, inside the grounds.
To compensate, a sound bed is being added to the live output that features background chatter, general atmosphere and the odd champagne cork being popped. That bed is actually taken from a Lord's Test match, and is dubbed the Lord's hum .
A cricket crowd is difficult to emulate, especially the appropriate reactions to things like a dropped catch [for example], explains Sky director of cricket Bryan Henderson speaking to SVG Europe on Day 2 (9 July) of the match which is taking place at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
But I've gone 180-degrees on this. At first, I wanted to be totally authentic [and add no sound] but I actually feel the hum makes it more authentic [for the viewer]. We use it at a very low level.
Henderson admits that he would have loved a more expansive augmented audio crowd system, like the one used on Premier League football, which adds sounds that were originally captured for use by EA Sports on the FIFA video game. But that facility isn't available for cricket.
I've watched the football with and without the augmented sound and I much prefer it with the crowd noise, he adds.
Little Wardy' The Sky production team have christened the Batcam Drive Little Wardy' after presenter Ian Ward
Also in use is a Buggy Cam or as the Sky team have christened it, Little Wardy' in honour of presenter Ian Ward who is famous for his diminutive stature.
The remote-controlled trackless dolly system originally developed by Motion Impossible is operated by Batcam (who call it Batcam Drive).
For this series, it has been adapted to include a full foldback speaker system and onboard monitor and is providing shots and capturing sound on the outfield where handheld cameras, reporters and presenters are not allowed as part of the health and safety regulations.
On Day 1 it was used to cover the coin toss at the beginning of the match and for the subsequent interviews with the two captains. The screen on the front of the vehicle allowed the players to interact with the interviewer. The audio was outputted from speakers onboard the system so they could converse openly.
The idea came from the experience of doing video conference calls, as Batcam founder and chief executive Jon Hurndall explains.
In the height of lockdown with zero bookings in our diaries, we took the time to have a think about how the future of sporting events would look from a broadcast perspective in this new COVID-19 world. It quickly became apparent that the usual norms, even simple things like a player interview, could become problematic for broadcasters.
So we started thinking about how people's habits have changed and a 2-way video chat was suddenly the norm. What better way to interview a player than using this type of technology but with a broadcast upgrade? We put down on paper how we thought we could achieve it and showed the team at Sky Cricket a mock-up of how it would look.
In essence, it is a remote control vehicle with a riser to raise the level of the camera to eye level with a remote control camera gimbal onboard. They were immediately interested to learn more and it's a testament to Bryan and his team that they are always open to pushing boundaries and testing new ideas.
Flying cameras While having no crowd inside the stadium takes away some of the magic of live sport, it does have its advantages from time-to-time. At the Ageas Bowl, for example, an aerial Batcam system is being used. This is a new version that can fly for longer periods, up to 20-minute continuous spells.
The behind closed doors element has meant we have been able to push the boundaries of our usual flying zones, adds Hurndall.
This has refreshed the shots we can offer, we have even been flying directly over the pitch when the teams go on and off the field of play. Something that we've always wanted to do but have been unable to do around large crowds.
A 100-metre long Batcam Wire system has also been installed that runs directly over the pitch, parallel to the wicket. This is offering a unique look at the empty stadium and fielding positions in and around the slips. It is fitted with a 3-axis stabilised gimbal, a Sony P50 camera and Canon 18x lens.
Player Zone With close-up player interviews not possible, Sky Sports has introduced The Player Zone (pictured, below). Visually, acknowledges Henderson, it looks like the diary room from the reality TV show Big Brother but this small studio-like space provides a place for live remote access interviews and for players to do technique demonstrations.
For Player Zone, Sky Sports' OB facilities provider CTV Outside Broadcasts has installed Panasonic AW-UE70 PTZ remote cameras which are always on. There is a small PA system for the audio. This means no crew are required in the
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
20/11/2025
CINCINNATI Oklahoma Community Television (OCT) has selected GatesAir and Triveni Digital as key technology partners in an ATSC 3.0 deployment that establishes a...
20/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has opened a wide-ranging inquiry into the relations between broadcast networks and their affiliates that could...
20/11/2025
NEW YORK Ad spend in the creator economy has more than doubled since 2021 from $13.9B to $29.5B in 2024 and that amount is projected to reach $37 billion in 202...
20/11/2025
Graduate Spotlight: Krysta Mirsik DePuy The educator from Hackettstown, New Jersey, shares how it took her 11 years to find the right graduate program for her...
20/11/2025
LONDON The winners of the Rise Awards 2025, which recognize women and companies whose achievements have stood out in the media technology industry, have been an...
20/11/2025
SANTA MONICA & NEW YORK Lionsgate's Worldwide Television Distribution Group and Debmar-Mercury have launched MovieSphere Gold in more than 30 million homes....
20/11/2025
ALAMEDA, Calif. Clear-Com has introduced its four-channel HelixNet beltpack, a next-generation advancement of its widely used two-channel model, and anticipates...
20/11/2025
NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J. Streaming technology and services provider Kiswe has launched Kiswe Core, a next-generation cloud-based platform designed to simplify the s...
20/11/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. Dolby Laboratories has signed on as an official signature partner of the Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC) for the 2026 Super Bowl and the we...
20/11/2025
STUTTGART, Germany 3 Screen Solutions (3SS) has announced that the Canadian multiservice operator Telus has launched its Telus TV+ entertainment platform on Sam...
20/11/2025
Major League Baseball has announced deals with ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix covering 2026-2028 that make ESPN the exclusive distributor for MLB.TV, put regula...
20/11/2025
Berklee Presents Holiday Extravaganza: Duke Ellingtons The Nutcracker Suite and ...
20/11/2025
It's the Late Late Toy Show BIG BIG Ticket Giveaway day!
It's the Late ...
20/11/2025
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on how developers, 3D practitioners and enterprises can transform their workflows u...
20/11/2025
The How To Gael pocast gals, comedian Chris Kent and quizzer Darragh Ennis drop by for the fifth episode of The 2 Johnnies Late Night Lock In
In the penultimat...
20/11/2025
Tonight on RT Prime Time, Marie Crowe on how a Reading School changed her son&#...
20/11/2025
The NVIDIA Blackwell RTX upgrade is nearing the finish line, letting GeForce NOW Ultimate members across the globe experience true next-generation cloud gaming ...
20/11/2025
Tanya Berger-Wolf's first computational biology project started as a bet wit...
19/11/2025
Sphere Sound Kicks Up Its Heels at Radio City Music HallUltra-immersive system from the singular Las Vegas venue is also ready for sportsBy Dan Daley, Audio Edi...
19/11/2025
The Future of Stadium and Arena Video Control Rooms: Tech Leaders Talk 4K, IP, a...
19/11/2025
One Year at Intuit Dome: Walking Through the Stunning Arena's Advanced Video...
19/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: IMG's Francois Westcombe Goes Inside IMG's Annual Digital ...
19/11/2025
Inside Brighton & Hove Albion's fan-first media machine By George Bevir
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
Brighton & Hove Albion'...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 1: Kansas Athletics Brings New Production Power to Rebu...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 2: A Pro's Guide to Kansas Athletics' New Video...
19/11/2025
MLB Media Rights Shakeup: NBC Inks Three-Year Deal for Sunday Night Baseball, Pe...
19/11/2025
Rohan Parashuram Kanawade attends the premiere of Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival at Egyptian Theatre on January 26, 2025, in Pa...
19/11/2025
Awards season is heating up, and the International Documentary Association just ...
19/11/2025
Aerojet Rocketdyne President Ken Bedingfield and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders were joined by state and local officials to celebrate the groundbreaking o...
19/11/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
19/11/2025
Calrec gives Phoenix Broadcast Solutions its full support in strategic multi-year enterprise partnership New Singapore OB company invests in Calrec technology f...
19/11/2025
October brings a larger audience in front of TV screens. The cooler autumn weather and the continuation of new programming schedules brought increases in both t...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Vitec has acquired Datapath, a developer of real-time video processing for large-scale video walls, AVoIP content distribution and KVM control in mission-critic...
19/11/2025
NEVADA CITY, Calif. Telestream has introduced ARGUS Version 2.3, which introduces Live Look, a feature that lets operators inspect live and on-demand streams vi...
19/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK Charter Communications, Inc. has announced a major deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that establishes AWS as one of Charters stra...
19/11/2025
TOKYO Atomos has announced a major firmware update that brings integrated camera control to the Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX its new CFexpress-based monitor-recor...
19/11/2025
Berklee's Signature Series Reimagines the Musical and Visual Artistry of Col...
19/11/2025
PlayBox Neo departed the NAB Show New York 2025 on a high note. The company's all-new PlayBox Neo Suite made a splash on the show floor, drawing strong inte...
19/11/2025
AAVBR (American Audio Visual Baton Rouge), a leading full-service event production company serving Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region, has enhanced its product...
19/11/2025
In its mission to deliver live event services combining advanced engineering with a creative approach to captivating live sports and entertainment experiences, ...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK Short-form vertical video has exploded across platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, but a new survey commissioned by Media.net, a provider of c...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK YES Network, the regional sports network home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets, and CAMB.AI have struck a partnership they said will leverage ...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has issued detailed guidance on filings that were disrupted by the government shutdown. While many of those fil...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK The popularity of NFL games is largely responsible for continued seasonal momentum in TV viewership into October (measured Sept. 29-Oct. 26), according...
19/11/2025
DirecTV has announced that its MyFree DirecTV streaming service has added seven new channels. Those include four sports services, NBA FAST, Red Bull TV, DAZN Ri...
19/11/2025
SURREY, U.K. Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has launched Flair Bridge, a compact device that transforms how operators control the company's motion-contr...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission, which is continuing to rapidly ramp up its operations after the end of the federal government shutdown, has se...
Player Zone, the Lord's Hum' and Buggy Cam: Innovations abound as COVID-safe Test cricket returns to Sky Sports By Will Strauss, Editor 
