The upcoming edition of the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup is going to be a unique cricketing event, with the tournament set to be co-hosted by the West Indies as well as the United States of America.
In November 2021, when the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed the hosts for all major ICC events from 2024 to 2031, one tournament that caught the eye was the 2024 Twenty20 World Cup.
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It’s the first instance of USA, an Associate Member in cricket, hosting a major ICC event.
But for a country that has a shocking lack of cricket infrastructure and resources, here’s why USA is ready to host the upcoming T20 World Cup.
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USA is one of the richest sporting countries in the world, due to tournaments like NBA, NFL, and MLB, which make up the majority of the sports market capital in the country.
Hosting a showpiece event in a country that’s one of the biggest attractions in the world when it comes to sports, the ICC might have pulled off a masterstroke.
One of the reasons why USA is ready to host this event is because there’s room to make a “statement”, to create more craze for cricket. The fact that most of the games are already sold out, including the much-awaited India vs Pakistan clash which will be played in New York, speaks volumes about the craze of cricket in the States.
“The release of the fixtures is made even more exciting for fans as we enter a new frontier, with the USA hosting a major ICC event for the first time. With 16 matches being played across three venues in the USA, it allows us to make a statement in the world’s biggest sports market,” ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said in January 2024.
Adelaide Oval Turf Solutions, led by Adelaide Oval’s head groundsperson Damian Hough, were entrusted with the preparation of a set of drop-in pitches in Florida.
The USA-based turf manufacturer LandTek Group, which has created playing fields for the New York Yankees, New York Mets, and Inter Miami CF, were asked to take care of the outfield, in the meantime.
In addition, the stadium at Eisenhower Park in New York, which has 34,000 seats, will be planned by Populous, a well-known architecture and design firm worldwide.
Chris Tetley, ICC’s head of events, noted that the ICC had faith that any last-minute snag could be resolved without stress because such trustworthy hands were engaged.
In addition to testing events that gives us a lot of reassurance is the quality of the people involved and the quality of the work that they do day in, day out: from Damian (Hough) on the pitches and the number of pitches he’s building, which gives us a bit of flex in case one of the pitches doesn’t go as well as we want, we can shift around so that we’re not reliant on you know, a no latency solution there.
LandTek are working hand in glove with Damian on all of the agronomy aspects of the facility. From a cricket perspective, they are the ones that we are most keenly interested in ensuring over the right quality, because that’s fundamental.
The inaugural edition of Major League Cricket (MLC), USA’s premier T20 league, took place in 2023, and was received with voracious support throughout, signaling at the long-term success of the league.
Over 70% of the games in it’s debut edition were sold out, which implies the incredible fan response in USA.
“Cricket in America truly has arrived,” said Tom Dunmore, vice president of marketing, MLC, after the league phase of MLC 2023 got underway.
The participation of some of the biggest T20 global stars such as Tim David, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Adam Zampa, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Aaron Finch, Devon Conway, Marcus Stoinis, Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Glenn Phillips among others has only aided the cause.
Esteemed American media organizations such as the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), The New York Times, The New Yorker, Texas Monthly, and Bloomberg had all taken notice of the MLC.
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Parshva is a Content Producer for The Sporting News’ India edition.
