Revealed: The reason for the 'strange' Ashes start time that has left English fans scratching their heads

Cricket fans around the world were left scratching their heads at why play in the first Ashes Test in Perth started at 10:20am in Australia.

In England, Test matches usually start promptly at 10:00am.

But in Australia, the unusual 20-past-the-hour start time is because of a fascinating rivalry between two of the country’s biggest broadcasters, according to one cricket journalist.

In response to a question posed by cricket reporter Elizabeth Ammon of The Times, Paul Dennett has revealed that the 'strange' scheduling exists so that the Test match doesn’t eat into Channel 7 or Channel 9’s 6pm news broadcasts in Sydney and Melbourne.

As Dennett explains, Sydney and Melbourne are Australia’s biggest population centres and are both three hours ahead of Perth.

That means the Test starts at 1:20pm in Sydney and Melbourne.

‘That means two hours later, lunch is at 3:20pm [in Sydney and Melbourne],’ Dennett states in a video published on his X account.

With lunch then taking 40 minutes, the Test then resumes at 4pm in Sydney and Melboune.

‘The second session goes on until six o’clock, when there is the tea break. Now for younger people, six o’clock means nothing.

‘But in the old days, 6pm was the biggest time slot for Channel 9 and Channel 7, in their fight for supremacy - and it still is.

‘The 6pm news on either network is almost always their highest-rated show. Back in the day, at around 5:50pm, the commentators on Channel 9, would always pump up the cricket to keep people excited and keep people watching straight through into their flagship six o’clock news.

Dennett revealed that the same thing happens to this day. Hypothetically, if tea started at 6:10pm, Seven fears that they would lose elderly viewers to Channel 9, who may flick across to watch the news while the Test is still going on and perhaps may not flick back to watch the cricket.

So, in a bid to keep viewers tuned in to both the cricket and the news, Channel 7 have strategically adjusted the start time for the Test.

While some may argue that this once again shows how much influence broadcasters have over live sport, as Dennett explains, it is ‘one of the few trade-offs Australians have, to have cricket on free-to-air television in this country, getting huge ratings and remaining massively relevant.’

In England, Sky have held the rights to show English Test cricket for many years, but lost the rights to show the Ashes to TNT Sports earlier this year.

It means English viewers, unlike the Aussies, must pay to watch the cricket, with TNT’s coverage of the opening Test in Perth being slammed as a ‘poor product’.

One fan wrote: 'Actually grateful that they've killed my enthusiasm this early. I can go back to pretending the series isn't happening for the next couple of months. Cricket on TNT Sports isn't real, it can't hurt you.

Another added: 'Just inexcusable coverage from TNT. The biggest cricket series in the world and you employ two non-cricket commentators as your main two guys, who aren't even in Australia. Genuinely astonished how they ever thought it would go down well.'

It comes as Ben Stokes’ side slumped to a disappointing defeat in the first Test, thanks to the heroics of Aussie star Travis Head.

England had taken control in the opening Test on Saturday, taking a 99-run lead against the Aussies in the second innings with nine wickets in hand.

But after lunch, the tourists waned, with Scott Boland, Mitchell Starc and Brendan Doggett decimating England’s middle order, with Joe Root being dismissed for eight, Ben Stokes walked for two and Harry Brook was given out for a duck.

With England giving Australia a run-chase of 205 to win, Travis Head arrived at the crease, stunning Stokes’ side with an incredible century off 69 balls, spurring the Hosts to an eight-wicket victory.