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The ICC T20 World Cup finally comes to Australia this year. Scheduled to take place in 2020, global events saw the tournament rescheduled to take place the following year in India, only to be changed once again to ultimately get underway in the UAE and Oman. Australia, the holders, after beating the Kiwis in the final last November are the eighth nation to host the tournament and will be looking to become the first to retain it.
Cricket, like all sport is under an increasingly varied threat for its share of the audience and market from which it derives its revenue. The IPL may be one of the hottest properties in terms of broadcasting rights in world sport, but the longer form of the game has been struggling to compete. It isn’t only traditional sports either that pose a risk, with a huge move towards esports of late driving established franchises in federation football and other organizations to diversify their portfolios. That said, nothing can beat the spectacle of the best teams in the world gathered in one place to determine which is the best on the planet however. With crowds fully back, and the T20 world cup fitting into the sporting calendar just before the football world cup, this is all set up to be a fantastic festival of cricket.
The Format and Schedule
This is the last tournament that will be contested between 12 nations, with those taking place in 2024 onwards (the 2024 competition organised for the West Indies and the US) having 20 teams. As usual, those 12 teams will be the top 8 ranked countries, with the remaining four having to qualify.
Two groups of six will then battle it out, each team playing everyone from their group once, to determine the top two teams who will progress to a semi-final and then the final. Group A will be composed of Afghanistan, Australia, England, New Zealand and two undetermined qualifiers. Group B will consist of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, South Africa and the final two further undetermined qualifiers.
The first game of the tournament proper (between Australia and New Zealand) takes place on the 22nd of October, with games coming thick and fast, every day until the final group match on the 6th of November. The two semi-finals take place on the 9th and 10th of November respectively, with the final on the 13th of November.
The Venues
Preparations are underway at the MCG
Australia is not short of magnificent stadiums, and seven venues host the nation’s inaugural T20 tournament, including some of the most iconic grounds in cricket as well as a couple that may be new to fans living outside the country.
With a capacity of over 100,000 (the tenth largest in the world), the MCG will host the final, with Brisbane’s The Gabbathe SGC (host of the first semi-final) and the Adelaide Oval (venue of the second semi-final) also taking centre stage. Perth Stadium, a 60,000 stadium opened in 2018 will be new to many fans, as will Kardinia Park (in Geelong, Victoria, about an hour outside Melbourne), and the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, Tasmania.
The Favourites
Being the hosts and holders, Australia will be going into the tournament confident they can repeat last year’s success, but not everything has gone smoothly of late for Aaron Finch or his side. India are currently world number 1 in the rankings so will be hoping they can add to their victory in the inaugural tournament. England – winners in 2010 – are ranked number 2, followed by Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand.
Pakistan, winners in 2009, are taking their preparation seriously, playing a tri-nation tournament in New Zealand just before the World Cup with the Kiwis and Bangladesh. New Zealand cannot be written off, and along with South Africa are the largest nation not to have won the tournament. The West Indies – the only team to win it twice, in 2012 and 2016, are not the team they once were, but signs are encouraging. They play series against Bangladesh, India and New Zealand this summer, so we will see where they are after those.
Sri Lanka, the winners in 2014 and the only team to compete in three finals, will, like the West Indies, have to go through qualifying, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Should they make it through to the tournament proper, the players will have had a chance to play on the pitches and get a feel for the conditions, which could give them a vital advantage over sides coming in to the event cold.
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