The Schedule for the Cricket World Cup 2019 has been announced by ICC on 26th April 2018. Analyzing the Cricket schedules has always been an interesting thing to do as it opens up numerous possibilities to look up to.
And that too, for the most premium tournament in the game of Cricket, it’s going to be a feast for the Cricket fans all over the world.
According to the Managing Director of ICC, Steve Elworthy, this tournament is the flagship event of the Cricketing world.
Yes, of course, it is.
What could one expect more when the top cricketing teams of the world travel around the birthplace of Cricket for a span of 46 days to play against each other?
Check: ASIA CUP STATS AND WINNERS (YEAR BY YEAR)
First, let us look into the specifics of the World Cup 2019 Schedule
- England and Wales are selected to host the Cricket World Cup 2019.
- The 2019 World Cup Starts at 30th May 2019 and the Final to be played on 14th July 2019.
- ICC reduced the number of teams to play the tournament to 10. (The teams’ count was 14 during the previous World Cup in 2015)
- 11 Cricket Grounds across the country are chosen to conduct the matches.
- The Oval to host the Tournament Opener and the Lords to stage the Final of 2019 Cricket World Cup.
- Total of 45 league matches added to 3 Knock-outs including the Final will be played.
- 6 out of 45 league matches will be played as Day/Night Matches.
- All Knock-outs will be played as Day matches.
- The Day Matches are scheduled to start at 3.00 pm IST & the Day/Night matches at 6.00pm IST.
What makes the ICC World Cup 2019 Schedule stands out?
There are two things which already has made this World Cup stand out,
- The 2019 format of Cricket World Cup will be the first one to not include every Test Playing Nations as Zimbabwe & Ireland are left out.
- Also, this will be the first World Cup to not include any Associate team.
The Round Robin Format!
Furthermore, this will be the 1st World Cup to feature the Round Robin Format in the last 25 years. It was previously featured in 1992 World Cup. Round Robin is a schedule format where every team in the tournament are scheduled to face every other team as in the IPL league matches.
Here, Every 10 teams will play 9 matches, thereby adding to 46 matches before the top 4 teams enter into the Semi-Finals on the road to the big Final.
Exciting!!! Right?
I am sure it is going to be a remarkable event in the history of cricket and a treat for the cricket fans all over the world.
And for the people living in England, they will be onto a Cricket festival for the span of 46 days in the next summer as the Top Cricketing stars will be roaming across the England cities.
But still, the wait is too long as we have more cricket coming on the way before getting into the big event. For Instance, we have India visiting England this July 2018 to play all formats of Cricket hanging there for almost 2 months, so this would be a call for all cricket lovers to witness one of the greatest rivalries in Cricket. If you have a greater understanding of the game, there is something else for you. Placing wagers on cricket can be interesting even if you don’t possess a good knowledge of this sport. But for any curious person who wants to learn more, to get some tips for cricket betting, there is a good way of using these online offers. It is a good way to have some fun and test your knowledge about this sport.
Now let us look into the schedule before finding out the other important facets of the World Cup 2019.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Schedule
| MATCH NO. | DATE | MATCHES | VENUE | INDIAN TIME | LOCAL TIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MAY 30 - THU | ENG VS SA | Kennington Oval, London | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 2 | MAY 31 - FRI | WI VS PAK | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 3 | JUNE 01 - SAT | NZ VS SL | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 4 | JUNE 01 - SAT | AUS VS AFG | County Ground, Bristol | 6:00 PM | 1:30 PM |
| 5 | JUNE 02 - SUN | SA VS BAN | Kennington Oval, London | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 6 | JUNE 03 - MON | ENG VS PAK | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 7 | JUNE 04 - TUE | AFG VS SL | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 8 | JUNE 05 - WED | SA VS IND | The Rose Bowl, Southampton | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 9 | JUNE 05 - WED | BAN VS NZ | Kennington Oval, London | 6:00 PM | 1:30 PM |
| 10 | JUNE 06 - THU | AUS VS WI | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 11 | JUNE 07 - FRI | PAK VS SL | County Ground, Bristol | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 12 | JUNE 08 - SAT | ENG VS BAN | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 13 | JUNE 08 - SAT | AFG VS NZ | The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton | 6:00 PM | 1:30 PM |
| 14 | JUNE 09 - SUN | IND VS AUS | Kennington Oval, London | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 15 | JUNE 10 - MON | SA VS WI | The Rose Bowl, Southampton | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 16 | JUNE 11 - TUE | BAN VS SRI | County Ground, Bristol | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 17 | JUNE 12 - WED | AUS VS PAK | The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 18 | JUNE 13 - THU | IND VS NZ | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 19 | JUNE 14 - FRI | ENG VS WI | The Rose Bowl, Southampton | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 20 | JUNE 15 - SAT | SL VS AUS | Kennington Oval, London | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 21 | JUNE 15 - SAT | SA VS AFG | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff | 6:00 PM | 1:30 PM |
| 22 | JUNE 16 - SUN | IND VS PAK | Old Trafford, Manchester | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 23 | JUNE 17 - MON | WI VS BAN | The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 24 | JUNE 18 - TUE | ENG VS AFG | Old Trafford, Manchester | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 25 | JUNE 19 - WED | NZ VS SA | Edgbaston, Birmingham | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 26 | JUNE 20 - THU | AUS VS BAN | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 27 | JUNE 21 - FRI | ENG VS SL | Headingley, Leeds | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 28 | JUNE 22 - SAT | IND VS AFG | The Rose Bowl, Southampton | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 29 | JUNE 22 - SAT | WI VS NZ | Old Trafford, Manchester | 6:00 PM | 1:30 PM |
| 30 | JUNE 23 - SUN | PAK VS SA | Lord's, London | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 31 | JUNE 24 - MON | BAN VS AFG | The Rose Bowl, Southampton | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 32 | JUNE 25 - TUE | ENG VS AUS | Lord's, London | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 33 | JUNE 26 - WED | NZ VS PAK | Edgbaston, Birmingham | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 34 | JUNE 27 - THU | WI VS IND | Old Trafford, Manchester | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 35 | JUNE 28 - FRI | SRI VS SA | Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 36 | JUNE 29 - SAT | PAK VS AFG | Headingley, Leeds | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 37 | JUNE 29 - SAT | NZ VS AUS | Lord's, London | 6:00 PM | 1:30 PM |
| 38 | JUNE 30 - SUN | ENG VS IND | Edgbaston, Birmingham | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 39 | JULY 01 - MON | SL VS WI | Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 40 | JULY 02 - TUE | BAN VS IND | Edgbaston, Birmingham | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 41 | JULY 03 - WED | ENG VS NZ | Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 42 | JULY 04 - THU | AFG VS WI | Headingley, Leeds | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 43 | JULY 05 - FRI | PAK VS BAN | Lord's, London | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 44 | JULY 06 - SAT | SL VS IND | Headingley, Leeds | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 45 | JULY 06 - SAT | AUS VS SA | Old Trafford, Manchester | 6:00 PM | 1:30 PM |
| SEMI-FINAL 1 | JULY 09 - TUE | TBC VS TBC | Old Trafford, Manchester | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| SEMI-FINAL 2 | JULY 11 - THU | TBC VS TBC | Edgbaston, Birmingham | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| THE FINAL | JULY 14 - SUN | TBC VS TBC | Lord's, London | 3:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
Analyzing the Schedule
The tourney starts with the hosting country England starting against South Africa in The Oval on May 30th, 2019.
Team India plays its first match against South Africa on June 5th, 2019 in The Rose Bowl Stadium.
India was supposed to start their campaign on June 2, but it was postponed on the request of BCCI as there should be a 15-day gap between Indian Premier League (IPL) final and international assignment as per the Lodha Committee recommendation.
“The 2019 IPL will be played between March 29 and May 19. But we need to maintain a 15-day gap and World Cup starts on May 30. Therefore as per 15 day gap we could have only played on June 5. Earlier, we were scheduled to start on June 2 but we couldn’t have played on that day,” a senior BCCI official present at the West Bengal capital told PTI on condition of anonymity.
You can read about it here.
The Much awaited India-Pakistan clash will be played at Old Trafford, Manchester on June 16th, 2019.
The Round Robin Format will allow every team to play against every other team thereby all possibilities of clashes will be in contention like what we see in IPL.
Also, it will give the teams, the time to prove their mettle before qualifying for the Semi-Finals. And that will make the competition fairer and healthier with teams coming back strong in different courses of the tournament.
But still, the factor of playing only 10 teams has been received badly by few Associate teams.
Read what the former CEO of Honk Kong Cricket has written about this decision of playing just 10 teams in the Social Forum – Quora.
The Knock Out Round
After the end of the league matches, the teams at No 1-4 will reach the semi-finals the No1 team will face the No.4 team in the Semi-Final 1, so does the No. 2 & No. 3 will face each other in the Semi-Final 2.
The reserve days are allocated too for the Semi-Finals and the Final.
The Semi-Finals will be battled in Old Trafford, Manchester & Edgbaston, Birmingham, respectively.
The Final is scheduled to take place on The Lords on 14th July 2019.
World Cup 2019 Venues
The Lords – World Cup 2019 Final Venue
11 Venues across England & Wales are chosen for the event. Here, I have arranged them in the Alphabetical order.
Cardiff Wales Stadium, Cardiff
County Ground Bristol, Bristol
County Ground Taunton, Taunton
Edgbaston, Birmingham
Hampshire Bowl, Southampton
Headingley, Leeds
Lord’s, London
Old Trafford, Manchester
The Oval, London
The Riverside, Chester-le-Street
Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Read: Trent Bridge Cricket Stadium is only next to Lords Cricket Stadium now!
Who said What?
ICC has gone under serious controversies for reducing the team count to 10 in the World Cup, thereby reducing the exposure of Associate teams in the big stage.
But, It clearly looks like the ICC plan is to take the game to a different level where there will be much more interesting clashes than the dead rubber matches in the early stage of the tournament.
The ICC Chief Executive David Richardson found saying,
“Next summer fans around the world will be treated to compelling and competitive cricket as the best teams in the world go head to head in this round-robin format for the right to be crowned World Champions.”
Also, the Managing Director of ICC, Steve Elworthy found saying,
“Today’s announcement of the schedule is another important moment in the build-up to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 – the moment that the tournament comes to life for teams and cricket lovers across the world.”
To Close
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