THE ICC AND SKY SPORTS have announced that the full cast of Wicked will perform live at Edgbaston ahead of England’s opening match against Sri Lanka at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 on June 12.
Stars Emma Kingston and Zizi Strallen will perform as Elphaba and Glinda, marking the first collaboration between a major West End musical and international cricket.
The performance coincides with Wicked’s 20th anniversary in London’s West End and is part of the ICC’s broader effort to position the Women’s T20 World Cup as a major global live-event experience beyond sport. More than 150,000 tickets have already been sold for the tournament, making it the highest-selling edition to date.
ICC CEO, Sanjog Gupta said, “Our core belief is that the ICC’s marquee global events should serve as platforms for content, community, culture, and commerce with the athletic spectacle as the core product. Partnering with the globally celebrated production of Wicked for the opening ceremony of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 reflects our ambition to take the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 beyond its existing position of a premier sporting event into expanded realms of culture and entertainment. The association with Wicked also helps attract an audience which is increasingly seeking novel, enriching, big-event experiences. We want to blend sport, music, and culture in a way that transcends the traditional boundaries around our competitions. With this performance, we aim to create an immersive, globally resonant moment that drives deeper interest for the event, targets wider cohorts of fans, and fosters an enriched sense of community. The Women’s T20 World Cup has grown into one of the most-watched and followed women’s sporting events globally. With this opening ceremony, we are demonstrating that the ICC is committed to delivering novel, world-class experiences both in the stadium and across engagement platforms to billions of fans.”
A Wicked spokesperson said, “For 20 years, Wicked has brought audiences together through unforgettable live performance, so to open the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 in front of a global sporting audience is incredibly exciting for us. There is a real sense of drama, emotion, and anticipation shared between theatre and live sport, and this performance is a chance to bring those worlds together in a truly unique way on one of the biggest stages possible.”
