I think you missed the part about it being the WORLD cup. Channel 9 doesn't get great reception in the UK or India. Not to mention I dnt think the ICC gave anything away. I'd imagin Fox sports invested very heavily the broadcast rights and 9 would have to pay them just to air the Aussie games
It's the way all sports broad casting is going. If you go to the U.S. it's all on pay TV. As it gets cheaper and more popular, free to air just won't keep up.