DUBAI, July 8(ABC): The hallowed turf of the MCG was dropped into Melbourne’s city centre, as excitement builds for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, starting in just 100 days.
The upcoming tournament was launched with the Yarra River as the backdrop, blessed by former and current international stars and a number of eager fans who will no doubt be watching on across October and November.
Australian international stars Aaron Finch, Georgia Wareham and Tayla Vlaeminck along with cricket legends Shane Watson, Waqar Younis and Morne Morkel teamed up with other Australian personalities to launch the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Trophy Tour, driven by Nissan.
The tournament will feature the world’s best men’s cricketers from 16 countries, with an Australian side captained by Aaron Finch determined to defend their title on home soil. It’s the first time the men’s tournament has been hosted in Australia, with the women’s equivalent seeing mammoth crowds back in 2020.
Finch welcomes the challenge of the 15 other teams coming to Australia, and insists the months of tournament lead-up is crucial for his side’s chances.
“It’s an exciting time for cricket with so many world class teams coming out to play all around the country. Now that there’s just 100 days to go, you can feel the excitement building among the team about the prospect of playing in a home World Cup in front of our fans.
“In a World Cup every game is a tough game, and anyone can beat anyone on their day so the white ball cricket we’ve got coming up over the next couple of months is going to be crucial to make sure we are ready come the first ball of the World Cup in October.”
On top of the event in Melbourne, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Trophy Tour, driven by Nissan has been launched, with the iconic trophy travelling across four continents before returning to Geelong on 16 October, when the tournament gets underway.
ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice says the tour and the T20I format breaks new ground for the international game.
“Celebrating the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Trophy Tour, driven by Nissan, is another important milestone in taking the Trophy to ten countries for the first time ever, once again showing our commitment to using the T20 format as vehicle to grow the game and to engage new fans across the world.
“With just 100 days to go until the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup there is a real sense of excitement ahead of the 16 teams coming together in Australia to compete for the ultimate prize in T20 cricket.”
The Trophy Tour is set to visit 35 locations in 13 countries across four continents, more than ever before. The men’s T20 World Cup trophy will make stops in Fiji, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Namibia, Nepal, Singapore and Vanuatu for the first time, taking the sport to more fans in different countries to get a glimpse of T20 cricket’s ultimate prize.
The Trophy Tour will enable fans to get involved from home with a 3D augmented reality filter, housed on the official T20 World Cup Facebook and Instagram channels. Fans are encouraged to show the world where they play cricket by using the trophy filter.
The best of the fan-generated images will be celebrated weekly and a lucky few will be rewarded with ICC Men’s T20 World Cup themed prizes.
Fans can follow the trophy’s journey around the world on the T20 World Cup’s social media channels or via the dedicated Trophy Tour section on the T20 World Cup website.
Additional tickets to all matches have been released on Friday, with the exception of the India and Pakistan match on 23 October, with the allocation of tickets for the match sold out within five minutes of going on sale back in February. Should more tickets become available for the fixture, they will be released at a later date.