By Sukuoluhle Ndlovu
Cricket member countries have started identifying hosts for future International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Events.
The initial submissions were received from Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Namibia, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, UAE, USA and Zimbabwe.
The 17 members signaled interest in the commencement of the process to identify the hosts for men’s white ball events to be held post 2023. The hosting of the ICC World Test Championship Final, the ICC women’s and under 19 events in the new cycle will determined in a separate process that will get underway later this year.
ICC members were invited to submit a preliminary technical proposal as a potential host as this included individual country submissions as well as joint proposals. Eight men’s One Day International (ODI) and T20 events, comprising two ICC Men’s cricket World Cups, four ICC Men’s T20 World Cups and two ICC Champions Trophies, will be staged from 2024 -2031 and ICC Members were invited to submit a preliminary technical proposal as a potential host. This included individual country submissions as well as joint proposals.
The ICC Acting Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said they were happy with the response they got from the members.
“We are delighted with the response from our members to hosting ICC men’s white ball events post 2023. This process gives us an opportunity to extend our range of hosts and grow interest in cricket worldwide reaching more fans whilst creating a long term legacy for the sport.
“Cricket has more than a billion fans around the world and ICC events have a proven track record of bringing significant economic and social benefits for host countries. These events provide hosts with a wonderful opportunity to work closely with local communities to grow the game whilst supporting economic and social development public policy goals. We will now move forward to the second phase of the process where Members will provide a more detailed proposal before the ICC Board takes decisions on our future hosts later this year,” he said.
