T20 World Cup trophy arrives in Geelong

THE prize that 16 of the world’s best T20 teams will be fighting over has arrived in Geelong.

The ICC T20 World Cup Trophy Tour made its final stop in Geelong earlier today (Thursday, October 13) ahead of the tournament starting in three days.

The trophy will visit the Geelong Show tomorrow (Friday, October 14) but will then return to Kardinia Park Stadium, where fans can get up close and personal with it during the stadium’s six round-robin games between Namibia, Netherlands, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The cup itself has travelled about 100,000 km to destinations around the world over the space of 100 days.

To start at 3pm, the Sunday, October 16 match between Sri Lanka and Namibia will be the first of 45 games to be played over four weeks across Australia.

T20 specialists and Big Bash League players Mackenzie Harvey from the Melbourne Renegades and Tom O’Connell from the Melbourne Stars accompanied the trophy to Geelong today.

“The wait is over and we have finally arrived in the city that is going to be the centre of the cricket universe on Sunday,” T20 World Cup Local Organising Committee chief executive officer Michelle Enright said.

“We’ve now got the world’s best players from 16 landed in our country, and four of them are going to be playing right here at this amazing stadium.

“That’s what we love about these World Cups – it really is an unrivaled ability to bring together generations, cultures, people of different backgrounds.”

Kardinia Park Stadium Trust chief executive officer Gerard Griffin said he was anticipating a packed house on Sunday and tickets were still available.

“Underneath those white covers there, we know there are two drop-in wickets absolutely ready to go, cut very short, very hard and fast for a lot of fours and sixes, we hope.”

Geelong MP Christine Couzens said Geelong was “very privileged to have such a magnificent stadium in our region that a lot of other regions would kill to have”.

“This is a great opportunity to show off Kardinia Park and bring people down.”

City of Greater Geelong mayor Peter Murrihy said the city was proud to be involved in Australia’s biggest sporting event this year and to be the only regional city to host matches.

“We’re showcasing to both the country and the world our ability to host premier sporting events. It’s an honour we get to kick off the tournament with a double-header this Sunday.

“On the back of the Cats’ flag and a huge turnout to White Night last Saturday, Geelong is a very exciting place to be right now, and the T20 World Cup will keep that momentum going right through October.”

For more information, head to t20worldcup.com