NEW YORK: The International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to announce New York as one of the venues for the much-anticipated 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup to be hosted by the USA and the West Indies.
The venue could be understood to play host to the marquee clash between India and Pakistan. A similar venue was supposed to be built in Van Cortlandt Park in the borough of Bronx. But some of the neighborhood residents and a nearby cricket league voiced strong opposition to the plans, forcing the city officials and ICC to abandon the plan.
The report added that as a result, the Nassau County officials, who oversee the running of Eisenhower Park, jumped in to the talks, which is now getting serious consideration ahead of 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup.
The lack of cricketing infrastructure in the USA has always been an area of great concern for the ICC. The inaugural season of the Major League Cricket (MLC) did unveil its 15k-seater Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, but apart from it and Central Broward Park near Miami, the country lacks another permanent floodlit stadium with all facilities.
There’s Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina, but it doesn’t have any permanent structure or practice facilities. The Eisenhower Park arrangement should significantly reduce ICC’s issues with USA venues, who are aiming to host 20 matches of the event in the country.
Ireland, Scotland and Papua New Guinea sealed their spots for the tournament through regional qualifiers, with Americas (one spot), Asia (two spots) and Africa (two spots) qualifying competitions to be held in near future.
The 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup will be hosted jointly by the West Indies and the USA. 20 teams will be divided into four groups of five each for the first round. Top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super eight stage.
In Super eight, teams will be split into two groups of four each, with top two sides from two groups entering the semi-finals. Hosts West Indies and USA, as well as Australia, defending champions England, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh have already qualified for the competition.
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