ICC begins process to identify hosts for future men's events, 17 members express interest

Dubai:The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday said it has commenced the process to identify the hosts for the men's white-ball events to be held post 2023 and 17 member nations have expressed interest in hosting marquee tournaments during the next eight-year cycle.

The hosting of the ICC World Test Championship Final, the ICC women's and under-19 events in the new cycle will be determined in a separate process that will get underway later this year, the ICC said in a release.

Notably, the ICC has commenced the process to identify the hosts for men's white-ball events following the expansion to its event programme in the next cycle.

Eight men’s ODI and T20 events, comprising two ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups, four ICC Men’s T20 World Cups and two ICC Champions Trophies, will be staged from 2024-2031 and ICC Members were invited to submit a preliminary technical proposal as a potential host. This included individual country submissions as well as joint proposals.

Initial submissions have been received from Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Namibia, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, UAE, USA and Zimbabwe.

'We are delighted with the response from our Members to hosting ICC men’s white-ball events post 2023. This process gives us an opportunity to extend our range of hosts and grow interest in cricket worldwide reaching more fans whilst creating a long-term legacy for the sport,' said ICC Acting Chief Executive Geoff Allardice.

'Cricket has more than a billion fans around the world and ICC events have a proven track record of bringing significant economic and social benefits for host counties. These events provide hosts with a wonderful opportunity to work closely with local communities to grow the game whilst supporting economic and social development public policy goals.

We will now move forward to the second phase of the process where Members will provide a more detailed proposal before the ICC Board takes decisions on our future hosts later this year,' he added.(UNI)