The ICC have announced the full schedule for major tournaments from 2024 to 2031, with some surprises in the eight-year cycle.
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The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the list of tournaments for an eight-year cycle starting from 2024 and ending in 2031. The most significant aspect of the cycle is that there will be an ICC event every year. Â The surprising thing in the entire cycle is that six out of the eight tournaments will have co-hosts. Only India and Pakistan are the nations that will single-handedly host an ICC event. However, the best part of the new ICC cycle will be the introduction of four new countries as co-hosts for the World Cup and the World T20 respectively. The current cycle has seen the end of the ICC World T20 2021 with Australia winning the tournament for the first time.
The ongoing cycle of the ICC events will include the ICC World T20 in 2022 in Australia and it will end with the ICC World Cup in 2023 which will be hosted by India. Here is the new list of tournaments that will be held in the eight-year cycle from 2024 to 2031.
The first tournament in the new cycle will be the ICC World T20 in 2024. West Indies will get the chance to host an ICC event for the third time, having played host to the 2007 ICC World Cup and the 2010 World T20. While the 2007 World Cup was criticized for the format, the 2010 World T20 was a success. In both instances, the West Indies failed to make it to the knock-out stages of the tournament. However, the most significant development will be the allotment of games in the USA. Lauderhill in Florida has hosted T20 games for the West Indies and this will be the first time the USA hosts an ICC event. This is a significant development in the new cycle, with the USA becoming the first Associate Nation to co-host an ICC event.
Are you ready for the best-ever decade of men’s white-ball cricket?
— ICC (@ICC) November 16, 2021
Eight new tournaments announced ?
14 different host nations confirmed ?
Champions Trophy officially returns ?https://t.co/OkZ2vOpvVQ pic.twitter.com/uwQHnna92F
This is a massive development in the new ICC cycle. The Champions Trophy will resume after eight years, with defending champions Pakistan the hosts. The cricketing world has started coming to Pakistan as the security situation improves. After Zimbabwe’s tour in 2015, Pakistan has hosted the ICC World XI, Sri Lanka, South Africa for Tests, ODIs, and T20Is. It has also successfully hosted the Pakistan Super League. However, this will be the first time in its history that Pakistan will single-handedly host an ICC event. An ICC event returns to Pakistan after 25 years, having co-hosted the 1996 ICC World Cup along with India and Sri Lanka. It had earlier co-hosted the 1987 World Cup with India. Pakistan was expected to co-host the 2011 World Cup with India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. But, the security situation and diplomatic tensions with India deteriorated.
The World T20 will move from the West Indies and USA to India and Sri Lanka in 2026. India has hosted the ICC World T20 in 2016 while Sri Lanka played hosts in 2012. Asia has hosted the majority of the Twenty20 tournaments, with Bangladesh and the UAE also hosting in 2014 and 2021. This is the second major ICC event that India and Sri Lanka will be co-hosting, with the 1996 World Cup being the first instance.
After 24 years, Africa will host a major ICC event. In 2003, South Africa and Zimbabwe co-hosted the ICC World Cup. Zimbabwe has played host to the ICC qualifiers being held in 2018. This was for the qualification to the 2019 ICC World Cup. But, the 2027 World Cup will see a great step for Namibian cricket as they too will host matches. This is the first time an ICC event will be hosted by Namibia and it shows their prowess on the cricketing world. Namibia was impressive in the recently concluded ICC World T20 in 2021 and this is a continuation of the journey.
The 1992 World Cup saw retro becoming cool when the tournament was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The 2015 ICC World Cup saw massive scores in both Australia and New Zealand. One of the hosts staged a cricketing renaissance. Australia and New Zealand will be co-hosting an ICC event for the third time, with the 2028 ICC World T20 being the first time both nations will be hosting a major T20 tournament.
The Champions Trophy will be played in India after a gap of 23 years. In the 2006 edition of the tournament, Australia broke the jinx to win the tournament. India did not enter the playoffs. The Champions Trophy was initially disregarded for the growing prowess of Twenty20 cricket. But, the resumption of the Champions Trophy shows that the ICC is serious about ODI cricket.
England has been the spiritual host of major ICC events since 1975. They have hosted six ODI World Cups, one World T20, and Champions Trophy. However, this time they will be joined by Scotland and Ireland. Scotland had hosted a couple of games in the 1999 ICC World Cup. However, this will be the first time that Ireland will be hosting a major ICC tournament. In this new cycle, the ICC has made sure that the game has gone global with several associate nations playing hosts.
After eight years, India will once again be hosting the ICC World Cup but this time they will have Bangladesh as a co-host. In 2011, India co-hosted the World Cup with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. This will be the third time that Bangladesh will be hosting an ICC event, having first co-hosted the 2011 World Cup and also the 2014 World T20.
