Kardinia Park confirmed as T20 World Cup venue

INTERNATIONAL Cricket will grace the Barwon River and Corio Bay next year after the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Geelong as a host city for the 2022 T20 Cricket World Cup.

Geelong and six other Australian cities will host 45 total matches to be played in the best 20/20 cricket tournament on the planet starting on October 16 and ending with the final on November 13 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Other cities named include Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

GMHBA Stadium, Adelaide Oval, The Gabba, Blundstone Arena, Optus Stadium, the MCG and the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) are the venues set to host games.

Sydney and Adelaide will host the tournament’s semi-final meetings with the Sydney Cricket Ground to name the final’s first team on November 9 and the Adelaide Oval to name the second a day later on November 10.

“With 12 teams already confirmed in the line-up, we eagerly await the culmination of the qualification process to see which other teams will join them,” head of events Chris Tetley said.

Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 champions Australia and runner-up New Zealand head straight into the 2022 tournament alongside Afghanistan, Bangladesh, England, India, Pakistan and South Africa due to their rankings, and Namibia, Scotland, Sri Lanka and the West Indies made it through via the First-Round phase.

The remaining four spots will be filled following the completion of two qualifying tournaments. The first held in Oman in February, and the second in Zimbabwe in June and July.

“We are looking forward to seeing the return of ICC events to Australia and are delighted to announce the seven host cities for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022,” Mr Tetley said.

“Following the success of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020 and a two-year postponement, our sights are now firmly set on planning for the 2022 event in collaboration with the Local Organising Committee.”

For more details, head to t20worldcup.com.