On Wednesday, the ICC said planning the schedule for this year’s T20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies was the most challenging ever. The tournament will feature a record 20 teams, more than the 16 in 2022, and will be held at nine venues in North America, including a new 34,000-seat stadium in Nassau County, New York.
The Long Island ground, unveiled by the ICC, will host eight World Cup games, including the highly anticipated India-Pakistan clash on June 9. The venue is a temporary modular stadium with drop-in pitches but lacks floodlights.
Chris Tetley, the ICC’s Head of Events, explained, “We are in New York because there is a hotbed of cricket fans in New York, and we are bringing some of the most eagerly anticipated cricket matches, including possibly the most eagerly anticipated cricket match of all, to that venue.”
He added, “I expect the venue to be full, and I expect the atmosphere to be World Cup amazing.”
The USA will face Canada in the opening game on June 1 in Dallas, while the West Indies will begin their campaign against Papua New Guinea in Guyana. The final is set to take place in Bridgetown, Barbados, on June 29.
Tetley acknowledged the complexity of the match schedule, stating, “For this tournament, in my experience, it has been the most complicated match schedule ever to draft… the number of matches and the number of teams, which is the largest ever T20 World Cup.”
While Indian websites have suggested match timings between 1400 and 1600 GMT to suit subcontinent fans, Tetley mentioned that the start times haven’t been finalized yet.
Tetley believes bringing the T20 World Cup to the United States is a great chance to capture the interest in the country. He mentioned that Major League Cricket in New York attracted attention in its first season, and the fact that World Cup cricket is being discussed on morning talk shows shows the increasing popularity of cricket in the area.
The new New York stadium, designed by Populous, a company known for iconic venues like Yankee Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, is part of the nine venues, with six in the Caribbean and Florida serving as the third US base.
Leave a Reply