SYDNEY: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday morning declared the fixtures and venues for both the men’s and women’s T20 World Cup which are set to take place in Australia in 2020. For the first time ever, cricket’s governing body held a live streaming worldwide posting it on their social media channels to mark the occasion.
The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will take place from 21 February – 8 March 2020, followed by the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup from 18 October – 15 November 2020. In another first, both will be played as standalone events in the same year and in the same country.
Additionally, both the finals will be held at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The women’s final will co-incidentally take place on the occasion of International Women’s Day. The match is expected to break all record for attendances for any woman’s sporting fixture in history.
Their tournament will kickstart at the Sydney Showground Stadium featuring hosts and reigning champions Australia taking on India as both teams will be a part of Group A which will also have New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the winner of the qualifying tournament.
Tickets for the Women’s T20 World Cup will go on sale on 21 February and fans can register for early access to tickets at t20worldcup.com. All its matches will have tickets priced starting $20, with kids tickets pegged at $5, therefore two adults and two kids can attend any match, including the final, for $50. Tickets for the women’s warm-up matches will be $10 each, while all kids’ tickets are free.
On the men’s side, hosts Australia will play the world’s top-ranked T20I team, Pakistan, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in the first Super 12 match of the tournament on 24 October 2020.
While India’s first clash of the tournament will be on the same day against South Africa in Group B at the state-of-the-art Perth Stadium. The two sides will be joined by England, Afghanistan and two other qualifier teams.
Two groups of six teams each will battle it out for a place in the semifinal and subsequently, the final. The men’s tournament ticket information, including prices, will be announced later in the year.
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “Whenever we host an event in Australia we know we can guarantee the one billion cricket fans around the world a great show. The world’s best players. Outstanding venues. Noisy, passionate, knowledgeable fans. Exciting cricket. This is the perfect combination for a T20 World Cup and in 2020 we go one step further with two T20 World Cups in one year.
“To hold two T20 World Cup finals at the world’s largest cricket stadium in front of 92,000 people with hundreds of millions more watching around the world is a particularly exciting prospect as we look to grow the fans around the world and make 2020 the year of cricket.”
ICC T20 World Cup Australia 2020 Local Organising Committee CEO Nick Hockley added: “We’re so excited to be able to let fans all around Australia and the world know when and where their teams will play, so they can start planning now.
“World Cups are all about bringing people together. We know that passionate fans of all generations and cultures will travel from near and far to support their teams and that they will receive the warmest of welcomes in our wonderful host cities.
“Putting on events of this scale are a big team effort and we would like to thank all our valued partners for making sure that the T20 World Cup is not only a spectacular celebration in 2020, but that it leaves a lasting positive impact.
“With the Women’s T20 World Cup up first, we’ll be calling on cricket fans to bring their families, friends and communities to support the best players in the world.”
