Next Men's T20 World Cup set to be played from June 4 to 30, 2024

By Nagraj Gollapudi

THE 2024 Men's T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played from June 4 to 30 next year in the Caribbean and the USA, across 10 venues, ESPNcricinfo has learned.

It is understood that this week an ICC team inspected some shortlisted venues in the USA, which will be hosting an international global cricket event for the first time. These include Lauderhill in Florida, which has hosted international matches already (and is set to host West Indies vs India in the coming fortnight), Morrisville, Dallas and New York, for tournament matches and warm-ups.

Morrisville and Dallas are currently hosting the inaugural edition of Major League Cricket in the USA. The grounds in Dallas (Grand Prairie Stadium), Morrisville (Church Street Park) and New York (Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx) are yet to get international venue status, which is manda-

Florida, Morrisville, Dallas and New York among shortlisted venues inspected by ICC, with USA set to co-host tournament with West Indies per 8 teams will be split into two groups of four each, with the top two in each group reaching the semi-finals. tory as per ICC rules. A final decision on the venues will be taken by the ICC together with Cricket West Indies (CWI) and USA Cricket (USAC) in the next few months.

The 2024 T20 World Cup is the first of the eight men's global events in the ICC's next commercial cycle from 202431, which was finalised in 2021. The decision to appoint the USA as a co-host was part of a strategic move by the ICC with twin goals in mind: one, the North American market was identified as a strong market for growth of the game.

This week Ireland, Scotland and Papua New Guinea qualified for the 20-team T20 World Cup via the regional qualifiers pathway put in place by the ICC. While PNG topped the East Asia-Pacific Qualifer, Ireland and Scotland finished in the top two positions in the Europe Region Qualifier. Qualifiers from the Americas (for one spot), Africa (two spots) and Asia (two spots) regions will be determined in the coming months.

Twelve teams had already qualified for the tournament before the regional qualifiers, including hosts West Indies and USA, and the top eight teams at the 2022 T20 World Cup - Australia, England, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan and Bangladesh qualified by virtue of their spots in the T20I rankings, completing the 20-team roster.

The format for the 2024 World Cup will be different to the last two editions (2020-21 in the UAE and 2022 in Australia), where the first round was followed by Super 12s. Next year, the 20 teams will be divided into four groups of five each for the first round, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the Super 8s. The Su-

And two, the ICC's ambition to have cricket feature in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games (LA28).

The USA being pencilled in to co-host a major cricket event, the ICC felt, would only help in the push for cricket's inclusion in LA28. The ICC made a presentation to the LA28 team, with a final decision to be taken by the International Olympics Committee later this year.

Maloney 10th in sprint race, but Rodin Carlin teammate wins

STAVELOT, Belgium,

(CMC – Teenaged Barbadian race car driver, Zane Maloney, finished 10th in the Formula 2 sprint race of the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, but his Rodin Carlin teammate, Enzo Fittipaldi, of Brazil brought home a long-awaited first win.

Starting seventh on the grid, the 19-year-old finished the actual race 11th, but the post-race disqualification of Van Amersfoort Racing driver, Richard Verschoor, of the Netherlands from second enabled Maloney to move up in the official result.

Verschoor was found to have used a throttle map not in compliance with Article 3.6.5 of the technical regulations for both the formation lap and race start, but this did not help Maloney add to his points tally for the season.

Campos Racing driver Ralph Boschung of Switzerland was moved up to eighth and the final point-paying position, so Maloney remained stuck in 10th in the 23-driver F2 standings on 66 points with three more 14 races on the schedule for this year.

Fittipaldi saved his me- dium tyres right to the end and snatched the victory from the clutches of Verschoor with a daring move on the penultimate lap.

Art Grand Prix driver Théo Pourchaire of France was third on the track, but moved up to second following the Verschoor disqualification, and MP Motorsport driver Denis Hauger of Norway finished fourth on the track, but he was awarded third.

Maloney had good position early in the race, but he was passed by Art Grand Prix driver Victor Martins of France at Blanchimont for eighth.

Verschoor inherited the lead on the fourth lap, but the safety car was deployed when Invicta Virtuosi driver Amaury Cordeel of Belgium spun and stalled on track.

When green flag conditions resumed on the fifth lap, Hauger got the perfect run down the Kemmel Straight to repass Prema Racing driver Frederik Vesti into Les Combes.

Australian Jack Doohan, the other Invicta Virtuosi driver, kept the pressure on Maloney, going deep at the Bus Stop chicane as he tried to go the long way around the Barbadian driver.

Doohan got the job done one lap later through Les Combes, and Maloney failed to mount a serious challenge after that.

Up front, Fittipaldi, starting third on the grid, whittled way a healthy two-second gap that Verschoor had built, taking half-second out of the Dutchman’s advantage on the 13th lap of the 17-lap race.

The Brazilian driver worked his way to within DRS range of the Verschoor driver, and he nailed his run out of La Source on the penultimate lap.

Fittipaldi got the slipstream along the Kemmel

Straight and sealed the position into Les Combes and drove out the race for the win.

The Rodin Carlin driver crossed the finish line 2.3 secs clear and became the 11th different winner on the 2023 grid.

Maloney will start the F2 feature race on Sunday from fourth on grid and will be hoping for better results, and Fittipaldi will start eighth.

Formula 2 is the second tier to Formula 1 racing organised by the FIA, motor sport’s world governing body, and held on select circuits on the F1 schedule.

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