Plans to return the Ashes cricket coverage to terrestrial TV will be scrapped by the Government.
Under Labour proposals, the sporting event would have been given protected status and would have been shown on non pay TV services like the BBC.
But the coalition will announce tomorrow that it is dumping the idea.
Under Labour proposals, the sporting event would have been given protected status and would have been shown on non pay TV services like the BBC.
But the coalition will announce tomorrow that it is dumping the idea.
The decision also means England football home and away qualifying games will not be protected as planned and neither will The Open golf tournament.
The sports and Olympics minister Hugh Robertson is set to confirm that it will not be adopting the proposals put together by a review panel under the previous Labour administration.
Instead he is expected to say that the recent list of protected events does not need changing.
The new Government is thought to have listened to concerns from organisations such as the England and Wales Cricket Board, who had argued that they would lose millions of pounds in revenue if they could not sell broadcast rights to the highest bidder.
Sky, which recently owns the rights to live Ashes games on its pay TV service, is also thought to have lobbied hard against the changes, while the BBC was reluctant to hand over large swathes of its schedules to cricket.
The decision will no doubt reignite concerns about the perceived closeness between the Government and Rupert Murdoch.
Former Football Association executive director David Davies's review unveiled in November had proposed returning the home matches of the historic cricket series back to free to air TV from 2017.
His recommendations had also removed protected status for the Winter Olympics along with The Epsom Derby and rugby league's Challenge Cup final.
The news will come as a blow to campaigners, such as former Labour John Grogan MP, who have been fighting to get live Ashes cricket back on terrestrial TV.
Mr Grogan last year put down an early day motion backed by 71 MPs calling on the Government to support the recommendations of the Davies committee.
Yesterday he expressed sadness at the decision. He said: 'I am disappointed that they have set aside the conclusions of the report which David Davies worked on with his colleagues for months on end.
'In particular there will be sadness that the Ashes won't be listed and a whole generation of people will grow up not being able to watch their national cricket team live.'
He also expressed fears it would affect the number of children taking up the game.
At the time that the panel's findings were revealed, cricket chief Giles Clarke had warned it could lead to 'a decade of decay' for his sport.
In 1998 home Test match cricket was controversially dumped from the list of 'crown jewel' events which allowed the ECB to negotiate multi-million pound deals with Sky.
In 2008 the ECB signed a four year deal with Sky and Channel Five (who broadcast daily highlights from home Tests) worth a combined £300million and running from 2010 to 2013.
The proposed changes had also included Wales Six Nations matches and all the international football qualifiers for the other home nations - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It is thought the tough economic climate strengthened claims by sports bodies that the moves would damage their revenues.
A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport refused to comment ahead of tomorrow's announcement.
The sports and Olympics minister Hugh Robertson is set to confirm that it will not be adopting the proposals put together by a review panel under the previous Labour administration.
Instead he is expected to say that the recent list of protected events does not need changing.
The new Government is thought to have listened to concerns from organisations such as the England and Wales Cricket Board, who had argued that they would lose millions of pounds in revenue if they could not sell broadcast rights to the highest bidder.
Sky, which recently owns the rights to live Ashes games on its pay TV service, is also thought to have lobbied hard against the changes, while the BBC was reluctant to hand over large swathes of its schedules to cricket.
The decision will no doubt reignite concerns about the perceived closeness between the Government and Rupert Murdoch.
Former Football Association executive director David Davies's review unveiled in November had proposed returning the home matches of the historic cricket series back to free to air TV from 2017.
His recommendations had also removed protected status for the Winter Olympics along with The Epsom Derby and rugby league's Challenge Cup final.
The news will come as a blow to campaigners, such as former Labour John Grogan MP, who have been fighting to get live Ashes cricket back on terrestrial TV.
Mr Grogan last year put down an early day motion backed by 71 MPs calling on the Government to support the recommendations of the Davies committee.
Yesterday he expressed sadness at the decision. He said: 'I am disappointed that they have set aside the conclusions of the report which David Davies worked on with his colleagues for months on end.
'In particular there will be sadness that the Ashes won't be listed and a whole generation of people will grow up not being able to watch their national cricket team live.'
He also expressed fears it would affect the number of children taking up the game.
At the time that the panel's findings were revealed, cricket chief Giles Clarke had warned it could lead to 'a decade of decay' for his sport.
In 1998 home Test match cricket was controversially dumped from the list of 'crown jewel' events which allowed the ECB to negotiate multi-million pound deals with Sky.
In 2008 the ECB signed a four year deal with Sky and Channel Five (who broadcast daily highlights from home Tests) worth a combined £300million and running from 2010 to 2013.
The proposed changes had also included Wales Six Nations matches and all the international football qualifiers for the other home nations - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It is thought the tough economic climate strengthened claims by sports bodies that the moves would damage their revenues.
A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport refused to comment ahead of tomorrow's announcement.
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