By SAT Sports Desk
MELBOURNE, 23 July: More than one million fans are expected to attend the global showpiece event for cricket’s fastest-growing format, to be played in Australia for the first time. In another first, ICC T20 World Cup 2020 will be played as two standalone events in the same country, in the same year.
The event is fast approaching, with ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 less than seven months away. The 10 best teams will compete from 21 February – 8 March 2020. Later in the year, 16 teams will contest the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 from 18 October – 15 November 2020.
Both the women’s and men’s finals will be played at the biggest cricket stadium in the world, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). This presents an opportunity to set a new world record for attendance at a women’s sporting fixture on Sunday 8 March 2020, International Women’s Day.
Tickets are now on sale for the women’s event and go on general sale for the men’s event on 18 October 2019. All fans who buy tickets to the women’s event will automatically qualify for a presale opportunity for the men’s event, as will fans who register for men’s event tickets at t20worldcup.com.
The Australian women’s team are the defending champions, and have won the event four out of the six times it has been contested, the last time being in the West Indies in 2018. The hosts will start ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 with a blockbuster clash with India at Sydney Showground Stadium on Friday 21 February.
In contrast, the Australian men’s team have never won the ICC T20 World Cup. They will play the opening match of the Super 12 stage of the men’s tournament on Saturday 24 October under lights at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), against the world’s top-ranked team, Pakistan. Later that evening, India will take on South Africa at the state-of-the-art Perth Stadium, rounding out a spectacular opening night for the men’s Super 12 stage.
The seventh edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will feature semi-finals at Adelaide Oval and the SCG, followed by the final at the MCG on Sunday 15 November. Brisbane (Gabba), Geelong (Kardinia Park) and Hobart (Bellerive Oval) will also host men’s matches as part of a suite of seven world-class venues for the men’s event.
ICC T20 World Cup 2020 Local Organising Committee CEO, Nick Hockley, said: “Passionate fans from around the world were a highlight of the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and it is such an exciting prospect that both the women’s and men’s T20 World Cups are coming to Australia next year.
“2020 is a year when fans across Australia and around the world can be part of not just one, but two World Cups, and now fans have the opportunity to plan their full year. We encourage everyone to get in early.
“We have made sure that tickets to all matches are accessibly priced, so that families, friends, and communities can come together to support their teams and celebrate these major world events.
“Fans can buy any combination of tickets and with hospitality and travel packages also launched today, fans across the world have the options and flexibility to build their own T20 World Cup experience.
“With its world-class venues, wonderful host cities, its passionate, knowledgeable and diverse fans, having two T20 World Cups in 2020 is an opportunity for Australia to give the warmest of welcomes to fans from around the world and inspire the next generation.”
The remaining places for both the women’s and men’s tournaments will be decided at the following upcoming qualifying events:
– ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier: 31 August – 7 September 2019, Scotland
– ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier: 11 October – 3 November 2019, UAE
A media release from the ICC says adult tickets will be from $ 20, two-thirds of total tickets $50 or less and 5 million tickets will be available across both the events. Women’s event tickets are on sale now at t20worldcup.com and Men’s event tickets will be on general sale from 18 October 2019.
