Sky Sports will launch an innovation in their cricket coverage in this week’s Test against India, with England’s Ollie Pope wearing a camera on his helmet while fielding at short leg.
This is a world-first in Test cricket, and has approval from both the ICC and ECB.
Sky hope it will “give viewers a unique view of the action out in the middle”. The camera will not pick up noise so there are no concerns over what players say to each other, although there is already a stump mic that is faded up and down at different moments.
Sky tried a similar innovation in the first edition of The Hundred last year, when Trent Rockets’ Tom Moores wore a camera while keeping wicket. It resulted in some superb shots as he took a top-edged catch.
Pope is an outstanding fielder close to the bat, and took a superb catch at short leg in the third Test against New Zealand last week, snaring Devon Conway off the bowling of Joe Root.
Ben Stokes’ attacking approach to captaining England’s regular spinner Jack Leach means he is likely to be under the lid regularly throughout the match.
