Aren't home Tests here in Australia on the anti-siphoning list?
All Australian home tests and ODIs are part of the anti-siphoning list, as well as Ashes tests in England.
Yeah that could be a worry
Not for me as I have fox and would still watch tests. Problem would be the younger kids wouldn't grow up with test cricket like I and many did. Free to air was huge vehicle for me to not only watch but become a huge fan of the game and end up playing throughout my schooling and early adult hood. (test cricket and rugby league in particular)
Vanish if from free to air we will no longer have generations of youngsters growing up with the purist form of the game. T20 is sadly already making a big dent as it is.
As I mentioned in my previous post, home tests/ODIs and Ashes tests in the UK are on the anti-siphoning list.
HOWEVER, with that said, if Fox Sports got simulcasting rights to home tests/ODIs, yes the commentary may be better than Channel 9's, but that will be the beginning of the end for FTA cricket coverage in Australia. Case in point is to look at what happened in the UK once Sky Sports got their foot in the door and started televising internationals in England. Exact same outcome would eventually happen in Australia.
Sky Sports started out in 1990 only covering England's away tours. 1990 tour of West Indies was the first one that was given full coverage in the UK. At the time, BBC still had the monopoly on all England's home matches as well as County cricket games, which were very popular and attracted strong attendances due to all the great overseas players in it (before the import quotas were introduced). Then only a year later in 1991, Sky started covering County matches and also evening highlights of ODI matches in England. In 1995, they got simulcasting rights to ODI games in England and allowed to cover 1 home test. After the 1999 World Cup, they got exclusive rights to all ODI games in England, and their home test coverage increased to simulcasting all home tests alongside Channel 4. And as well all know, after the 2005 Ashes, Sky got exclusive rights to all live international and domestic cricket coverage in England, which is the way it has remained since.
The consequences of that: declining interest in cricket in England at the lower levels, especially amongst schools and lower tv ratings. The consequence of the lack of FTA exposure is there for all to see, but the situation is not going to change anytime soon because the ECB and all the counties are in favour of the Sky deal as they get multiple times more money from Murdoch et al than they did from BBC/Channel 4. However, there has to be a balance that is struck between the substantial larger money PayTV offers vs FTA exposure. Super Rugby and A-League in Australia have shown in the past that it's very difficult to grow a sport or tournament without the FTA exposure.
Another country where cricket has suffered from no FTA exposure is New Zealand. Pre-2000, tv ratings were substantially higher, crowd attendances were higher, interest and participation at the lower levels was higher. Then, since 1999 (when cricket moved from FTA to Sky Sports NZ), ratings have declined and average crowds have dropped off big time (especially for test matches, which are unfortunately a ghost town for nearly all NZ test venues). Yeah, I know the 2015 World Cup rated well there, but even FTA ratings for the big matches such as the semi-final and final were miniscule compared to what it got for a regular New Zealand vs Pakistan ODI match back in 1995 on a weekday in the post-Hadlee/Crowe era:
http://www.throng.co.nz/2015/02/ratings-look-back-20-years-cricket-tv/