MCG to host men’s and women’s World T20 finals in 2020
The International Cricket Council has announced that the men’s and women’s World T20 in 2020 will be played in Australia and the MCG will host both finals. The women’s tournament will be held from February 21 to March 8 and the men’s competition will take place between October 18 and November 15.
After the ICC’s announcement on Tuesday, hopes are high that the women’s final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground will witness a world-record attendance in 2020. This venue hosted the 2015 ODI World Cup final where record 93,013 fans turned up in the stadium. In the women’s category, 10 teams will take part in the event while 16 teams will participate in the men’s tournament. The full fixture for the World T20 tournament will be announced soon.
"I've been in the crowd watching people play out there in front of 90,000 people and potentially the opportunity to be out there in the middle for that is really exciting," Meg Lanning, the Australian women's captain said as quoted by Cricbuzz.
"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," Dave Richardson, the ICC chief executive added.Â
"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 women’s team will play their warm-ups games at Brisbane's Allan Border Field and Adelaide's Gladys Elphick Park. The WACA Ground, Melbourne's Junction Oval, Canberra's Manuka Oval and Sydney's Spotless Stadium will host the group matches and the semi-finals will be organized at the SCG.
The MCG, SCG, Adelaide Oval, Perth Stadium, Geelong's Kardinia Park, the Gabba, and Blundstone Arena in Hobart will host the men’s matches and the semi-finals will be played at the SCG and the Oval.
"We are looking forward to it," Steve Smith, the Australian captain said.Â
"Looking back to 2015 with the World Cup in Australia, just the support we had... and all the games like India vs South Africa (85,000 at the MCG)... was something incredible."