‘Interest has spiked for 2019 World Cup’

NEW DELHI: The 2019 ICC ODI World Cup in England is already witnessing an unprecedented interest, and has led to oversubscription of tickets of most matches, said a top International Cricket Council (ICC) official.

The 2019 ICC World Cup will witness the return of the roundrobin format for the first time after 1992. There will be a total of 48 matches.

The event will start on May 30 with England opening against South Africa at Kennington Oval. India will play South Africa in their first encounter on June 5 and will battle Pakistan at old Trafford on June 16.

“We are seeing unprecedented demands for tickets to the point where we are oversubscribed three or four times for most matches. It’s something like three and half thousands tickets available across the entire event, across all 48 matches as I speak today,” said Campbell Jamieson, ICC General Manager (Commercial) on the sidelines of announcing a five-year sponsorship deal with beverage company Bira 91.

There is a significant growth in the popularity of women’s cricket as was seen during the recent women’s World T20 in the Caribbean, he said. “There are a number of women’s events over the next five years. With such interest level and growth, it creates commercial opportunities and brands are very keen to get involved with those events,” he said.

Asked whether ODI World Cup still retains the showpiece status, Jamieson said, “Yes it will retain its status but we have seen massive growth in Women’s World Cup in 2017 and then we saw significant growth in Women’s World T20 this year. It’s an evolving process.”

ICC has currently bid for the Women’s T20 to be included in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The Test World Championships starting next year will be an opportunity for the ICC to make the traditional format commercially viable.