The US is set to be awarded joint hosting rights by the International Cricket Council to a major global men’s tournament in the next five years, potentially as early as 2024, it has been reported today.
According to Cricbuzz, the ICC is seriously considering giving the US joint staging rights (along with the Caribbean) to either the 2024 or 2026 Men's T20 World Cup, with a joint bid for the latter tournament having been launched earlier last year by the governing bodies of cricket in those two regions (USA Cricket and Cricket West Indies).
Cricbuzz claims it has heard from sources at global broadcasters that the ICC is keen on giving the US a chance to host a global event by 2026, in part to gauge the popularity of the sport in the country before a potential run at becoming an Olympic event in time for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The final decision on host allocation for events in the 2024-31 events cycle could be taken as early as next week, with the ICC board meeting on 16 November.
The governing body will want host nations resolved before the turn of the year, if at all possible, with the ICC intending to start the tender process for media rights in the 2023-27 time period (the broadcast cycles run for four years, unlike the hosting cycles) as early as it can in 2022.
The next eight years will contain eight major events, with cricket’s traditional heartlands – England, Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand – some of the hosting contenders. In total, 17 nations have put their names forward.
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By GlobalDataThe host nations for women’s ICC events, the relevant editions of the ICC World Test Championship, and under-19 events between 2014-31 will be decided in a separate process.
Over the last decade, many of the biggest events have been allocated to the 'big three' nations of England, India and Australia.
Earlier this year, the ICC stated that the hosts for major events for the next eight-year would be decided internally during the autumn of 2021, with the recommendations then passed on to the board itself.
This is a U-turn on its previous policy of having an open bidding process and means the hosts will instead be chosen solely by the ICC’s board.
In June last year, Iain Higgins, chief executive of USA Cricket, said he hoped the ICC would “be brave enough to bring a T20 World Cup to the US. Every venue would be sold out … Imagine India playing Pakistan in a T20 World Cup here – you could not build a venue big enough.”
The governing body for cricket Stateside released a blueprint document in October 2020 highlighting the steps it will look to take in the next few years, including the launch of a professional Twenty20 league by 2022 and working to have at least three ICC-accredited match venues as soon as possible.