The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup is set to be played from 4 to 30 June next year in the Caribbean and the USA, across 10 venues. According to an ESPNcricinfo report, an ICC team this week inspected some shortlisted venues in the USA, which will be hosting an international global cricket event for the first time.
The venues include Lauderhill in Florida, which has hosted international matches already (and is set to host West Indies vs India in the coming fortnight), Morrisville, Dallas and New York, for tournament matches and warm-ups.
Morrisville and Dallas are currently hosting the inaugural edition of Major League Cricket in the USA. On the other hand, the grounds in Dallas (Grand Prairie Stadium), Morrisville (Church Street Park) and New York (Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx) are yet to get international venue status, which is mandatory as per ICC rules.
The report added that the final decision on the venues will be taken by the ICC together with Cricket West Indies (CWI) and USA Cricket (USAC) in the next few months.
Earlier this week, Ireland, Scotland and Papua New Guinea qualified for the 20-team T20 World Cup via the regional qualifiers pathway put in place by the ICC. PNG topped the East Asia-Pacific Qualifier while Ireland and Scotland finished in the top two positions in the Europe Region Qualifier.
Meanwhile, Qualifiers from the Americas (for one spot), Africa (two spots) and Asia (two spots) regions will be determined in the coming months.
New Format To Be Introduced in 2024
Twelve teams had already qualified for the tournament before the regional qualifiers, including hosts West Indies and USA, and the top eight teams at the 2022 T20 World Cup - Australia, England, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan and Bangladesh qualified by virtue of their spots in the T20I rankings, completing the 20-team roster.
As far as the format for the 2024 World Cup, it will be different to the last two editions (2020-21 in the UAE and 2022 in Australia), where the first round was followed by Super 12s.
Next year, the 20 teams will be divided into four groups of five each for the first round, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the Super 8s. The Super 8 teams will be split into two groups of four each, with the top two in each group reaching the semi-finals.
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