By: Staff Writer
May 17, 2024
The West Indies and the United States will play host to the Cricket World Cup this coming June 1-29, with the possible economic spinoffs for Caribbean countries participating to be enormous.
Senator Randall Mitchell, Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts in Trinidad and Tobago estimates that there will be a $150 million TT in revenue that will be gained by hosting the games in Tobago.
He added: “There will be direct and indirect earning opportunities across various sectors, including transportation, tour guiding, tour operators, bar and restaurant owners, street food vendors, and of course, temporary employment to meet the increased demand for services.”
The tournament will be cricket’s first major global event in the United States, with 16 of the 55 matches taking place there.
Florida (Central Broward Park & Broward County Stadium), New York (Nassau County International Cricket Stadium) and Texas (Grand Prairie Stadium) will be the three venues hosting games.
The stadium in New York has been created for the tournament and comprises a pitch flown in from Adelaide, Australia and temporary seating.
In the Caribbean, Antigua & Barbuda (Sir Vivian Richards Stadium), Barbados (Kensington Oval), Guyana (Guyana National Stadium), Saint Lucia (Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium), St. Vincent & the Grenadines (Arnos Vale Playing Field) and Trinidad & Tobago (Brian Lara Cricket Academy) will host games.
The warm-up match fixtures for the Men’s T20 World Cup, as released by ICC, are scheduled to be held from May 27 to June 1 across the USA and Trinidad and Tobago. The venues hosting the 16 warm-up matches are Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Texas, Broward County Stadium in Florida, Queen’s Park Oval and Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago.
ICC informed a total of 17 teams will play the warm-up games, including South Africa, who are playing an intra-squad on June 29 in Florida. The warm-up fixtures will be 20 overs per side and will not have international T20 status, allowing teams to field all members of their 15-player squad.