Venues decided for ICC World T20 2020

What's the story?

The ICC have confirmed the host cities and the venues for the World T20 of 2020 to be played in Australia. The details have been revealed for both the men's and the women's event, which will be held from October 18 to November 15 and February 21 to March 8 in the same year, respectively. “Australia is extremely privileged to be hosting the ICC World T20 tournaments in 2020," said David Peever, Cricket Australia chairman and head of the ICC World T20 2020 Local Organising Committee. "ICC World T20 2020 provides a unique opportunity to engage the whole community and inspire the next generation to love cricket.

In case you didn't know..

This will be the first time that the World T20 for both men and women will be held at different times of the same year despite the host nation remaining the same.

A total of 8 cities and 13 different grounds will be staging both the World T20's in 2020 in Australia, with the cities being Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Canberra and Geelong. Both finals will be played at the MCG while the Men's semi-finals will be played at the SCG and the Adelaide Oval with both the women equivalents going to the SCG.

The heart of the matter

The Men's tournament will see an expansion, as the Super 10 will now become Super 12. Eight of those teams would qualify on the basis of their rankings on the cut-off date that is yet to be determined by the ICC, while the other four teams will comprise the two best sides from the group stages, which will be played between eight teams divided into two pools of four each.

"I'd like to thank Cricket Australia and their partners in Government at all levels for their commitment to the ICC World T20 in 2020. The ambition they have shown firstly in delivering stand-alone men's and women's events and then in the venue selection that will I hope set a record for the biggest ever attendance at a women's sporting event is exciting for the sport," the ICC Chief Executive Officer David Richardson said in a statement.

What's next?

Last week, it was finalised that the first standalone Women's World T20 would take place in West Indies in 2018, as the tournament has so far been conducted simultaneously with the Men's event, the last edition of the latter being in 2016. Before 2020, however, the Men's ODI World Cup will be staged in England in 2019.

Author's Take

It is a massive positive for some of the lesser renowned grounds to get the opportunity of hosting the World T20 games, as the 2020 edition will include Women's matches at the Junction Oval and the Spotless Stadium in Melbourne and Sydney, respectively; in addition to the already established stadiums, the Men's event will also be held at the newly-constructed Optus Stadium in Perth and the Kardinia Park in Geelong.