Seven Caribbean countries will host matches at next year’s T20 World Cup, including Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Friday, but Jamaica didn’t apply, and some games will be played in the United States.
The ICC awarded the hosting of the event, to be held in June 2024, to the West Indies and the United States in November 2021.
Dominica, Guyana, St Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have also been named as hosts.
“The matches will again give cricket fans the unique experience of enjoying cricket in the Caribbean,” said ICC chief executive Geoff Allardice.
Matches will also be held in New York, Florida and Texas in the United States, the first time a major ICC event has been held in the country.
One notable absence from the list of Caribbean host nations is Jamaica, whose Sabina Park ground in the capital Kingston is one of the iconic homes of West Indies cricket.
Jamaica has the largest population of the main cricket-playing nations in the Caribbean but did not submit a bid to host the tournament.
Courtney Francis, chief executive officer of the Jamaican Cricket Association, said Cricket West Indies engaged with national governments over potential bids and that Jamaica’s administration had opted against participation.
“The government is the one who determines whether we could be able to host matches because all the expenses would have come back to the government,” he told CVM television.
“The government is the one who would have put up the bid money. They would have been the one to carry out repairs to the infrastructure and so on.
“The government did not see it as a viable option in their view and that is the reason why I believe that we have not been able to bid.”
West Indies hosted the tournament in 2010, three years after holding the 50 overs World Cup, and Cricket West Indies chief executive Johnny Grave said they were ready to put on a show again.
“The West Indies has got a huge experience in hosting ICC events and we’re currently hosting the Caribbean Premier League, which has been another successful tournament.
“We have very experienced operators throughout the region that we work with and partner with and all the stakeholders will be ready to welcome the world and stage this iconic ICC event,” he said.
“We’re all tremendously excited by the opportunity and the platform that it gives our region to promote itself to the world for tourism, for economic development, as well as hopefully to give our men’s team a huge home advantage and going for a record third title.”
Next year’s tournament will be the first edition of the event to include a record 20 teams.
England are the current T20 world champions, winning their second title when they beat Pakistan in the final in Melbourne last year.
Source: doc.afp.com 