The International Cricket Council today confirmed the schedule of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, which will be staged in England and Wales from 30 May to 14 July.
England will open the tournament at The Oval on 30 May when they will take on South Africa, while Australia will launch their title defense on 1 June against the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier champions Afghanistan in a day/night match in Bristol.
Reigning ICC Champions Trophy winners and former champions Pakistan will start their campaign against the ICC World Twenty20 winners and two-time former champions the Windies at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on 31 May.
India, the 1983 and 2011 world champions who also won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 in England and Wales, will play their first match on 5 June against South Africa at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton. Their feature match against traditional rivals Pakistan will be at Old Trafford in Manchester on 16 June.
Old Trafford in Manchester and Edgbaston in Birmingham will stage the two semi-finals on 9 and 11 July, while Lord’s will play host to a World Cup final for the fifth time, on 14 July. All these three matches will have reserve days.
Eleven world-class venues will be used in the 46-day tournament in which each side will play the other once in a single-league format with the top four sides after 45 matches progressing to the semi-finals.
Old Trafford in Manchester will host maximum six matches, while Edgbaston in Birmingham, Hampshire Bowl in Southampton, Lord’s and The Oval (both in London), Trent Bridge in Nottingham will stage five matches each. Cardiff Wales Stadium in Cardiff and Headingley in Leeds have been allocated four matches each and County Ground Bristol in Bristol, County Ground Taunton in Taunton and The Riverside in Chester-le-Street have got three matches each.
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said;
“It’s always an exciting moment ahead of any major event to announce the schedule and for the ICC Cricket World Cup, it’s that extra special. Next summer fans around the world will be treated to compelling and competitive cricket as the best teams in the world go head to head in this round robin format for the right to be crowned World Champions.”
“This schedule also gives fans across England and Wales the opportunity to watch world class cricket on their doorstep with all teams moving around the country. We know from previous ICC events that every country will be proudly supported at each of the venues creating an exceptional atmosphere and a real celebration of the game.”
ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Managing Director Steve Elworthy said
“Today’s announcement of the schedule is another important moment in the build-up to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 – the moment that the tournament comes to life for teams and cricket lovers across the world. This is the flagship event in one day cricket.”
“There are some fantastic head to head fixtures – England v Australia at Lord’s and India v Pakistan at Old Trafford as well as England v India at Edgbaston spring to mind. As organizers we can promise the teams and fans we will work hard to provide the perfect stage for this event.”
“Because of the UK’s diverse population, every competing team will also be guaranteed a ‘home crowd’ every time they play at some of the most iconic cricket grounds in the world.”
“The Cricket World Cup is the third most-watched global event and has huge interest and appeal amongst cricket fans. Our ambition is to grow the game and deliver the greatest ever cricket celebration and with that in mind, we have very carefully developed our ticket prices.”
“The prices have been tested with thousands of fans over the last six months, we have used external experts and consulted widely to ensure that they are good value vs other global sporting events. The prices balance accessibility with delivering the investment required to deliver a world-class event. All revenue is invested back in the game to grow cricket.”
ICC World Cup 2019 Ticket Price
- 80,000+ tickets at £20 (over half of the group stage matches)
- 200,000+ tickets at £50 or less
- Child tickets at every match, starting from £6
- Family of 4 for £52
Squads
Pakistan’s Squad:
Pakistan’s final 15-member squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 by chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq.
The squad consists of:
Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper and captain), Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Wahab Riaz, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, and Shoaib Malik
According to Geo, Junaid Khan and Faheem Ashraf were dropped from the squad in favor of Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz. Asif Ali also replaced Abid Ali in the side. Shahdab Khan who was unable to play in the series against England due to illness was retained in the squad.
The bowling unit during the England ODIs has not clicked as anticipated or expected; if we have at our disposal two vastly experienced pace duo of Amir and Wahab, then it will be foolish not to include them -chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq
It was difficult to replace Abid Ali but the way Asif Ali has batted in the series and the way conditions are we felt a player is required on the sixth or seventh spot who can accelerate
There is no panic. I spoke to the captain and coach before taking these decisions
Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed also shared his two cents:
We are not bowling and fielding up to the mark but the way we are batting I am very confident for the World Cup…Our openers and middle order are scoring runs and we have to sort out our fielding and bowling
England Preliminary 15-man World Cup Squad:
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire, wkt), Tom Curran (Surrey), Joe Denly (Kent), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Liam Plunkett (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham)
England 17-man Squad for Pakistan ODIs:
Morgan (capt), Ali, Jofra Archer (Sussex), Bairstow, Buttler (wkt), Curran, Denly, Chris Jordan (Sussex), Hales, Plunkett, Rashid, Root, Roy, Stokes, Willey, Woakes, Wood
England 14-man Squad Versus Ireland ODI and Pakistan IT20:
Morgan (capt), Archer, Sam Billings (Kent), Curran, Denly, Jordan, Hales, Plunkett, Rashid, Root, Roy, James Vince (Hampshire), Willey, Wood
BREAKING: @englandcricket announce their #CWC19 squad! pic.twitter.com/kInGrqpgUx
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) April 17, 2019
ICC World Cup 2019 Schedule (Venue-wise)
Cardiff Wales Stadium, Cardiff
- 1 June – New Zealand v Sri Lanka (d)
- 4 June – Afghanistan v Sri Lanka (d)
- 8 June – England v Bangladesh (d)
- 15 June – South Africa v Afghanistan (d/n)
County Ground Bristol, Bristol
- 1 June – Afghanistan v Australia (d/n)
- 7 June – Pakistan v Sri Lanka (d)
- 11 June – Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (d)
County Ground, Taunton
- 8 June – Afghanistan v New Zealand (d/n)
- 12 June – Australia v Pakistan (d)
- 17 June – Windies v Bangladesh (d)
Edgbaston, Birmingham
- 19 June – New Zealand v South Africa (d)
- 26 June – New Zealand v Pakistan (d)
- 30 June – England v India (d)
- 2 July – Bangladesh v India (d)
- 11 July – Second semi-final (2 v 3) (d)
- 12 July – Reserve day
Hampshire Bowl, Southampton
- 5 June – South Africa v India (d)
- 10 June – South Africa v Windies (d)
- 14 June – England v Windies (d)
- 22 June – India v Afghanistan (d)
- 24 June – Bangladesh v Afghanistan (d)
Headingley, Leeds
- 21 June – England v Sri Lanka (d)
- 29 June – Pakistan v Afghanistan (d)
- 4 July – Afghanistan v Windies (d)
- 6 July – Sri Lanka v India (d)
Lord’s, London
- 23 June – Pakistan v South Africa (d)
- 25 June – England v Australia (d)
- 29 June – New Zealand v Australia (d/n)
- 5 July – Pakistan v Bangladesh (d/n)
- 14 July – Final (d)
- 15 July – Reserve day
Old Trafford, Manchester
- 16 June – India v Pakistan (d)
- 18 June – England v Afghanistan (d)
- 22 June – Windies v New Zealand (d/n)
- 27 June – Windies v India (d)
- 6 July – Australia v South Africa (d/n)
- 9 July – First semifinal (1 v 4) (d)
- 10 July – Reserve day
The Oval, London
- 30 May – England v South Africa (d)
- 2 June –South Africa v Bangladesh (d)
- 5 June – Bangladesh v New Zealand (d/n)
- 9 June – India v Australia (d)
- 15 June – Sri Lanka v Australia (d)
The Riverside, Chester-le-Street
- 28 June – Sri Lanka v South Africa (d)
- 1 July – Sri Lanka v Windies (d)
- 3 July – England v New Zealand (d)
Trent Bridge, Nottingham
- 31 May – Windies v Pakistan (d)
- 3 June – England v Pakistan (d)
- 6 June – Australia v Windies (d)
- 13 June – India v New Zealand (d)
- 20 June – Australia v Bangladesh (d)