Mall party to start World Cup

A LAVISH opening ceremony for the Cricket World Cup is set to take place on The Mall, as organisers seek to avoid a repeat of the damp squib at Lord’s that kicked off the 1999 tournament. Buckingham Palace provides the backdrop to what the ICC promises will be the ‘most celebrated start to a Cricket World Cup ever’, including live sport, music and entertainment for 4,000 fans. While the teams will not attend the party on May 29, due to the tournament starting the following day with England v South Africa at the Oval, it is thought that a number of cricketing legends will be invited to take part. It will be hoped that a party-style opening ceremony in the heart of London will provide a better springboard for the tournament than the version at Lord’s 20 years ago. On that occasion, Prime Minister Tony Blair gave a speech that could not be heard because of a broken microphone and a few unimpressive fireworks — barely visible in daylight — were let off in the rain. Crunch meetings are understood to have taken place in the last week between Cricket World Cup organisers, the London Safety Advisory Group and the Royal Parks to finalise plans. The World Cup, which features 10 teams, will take place across 11 venues between May 30 and July 14, with the semi-finals at Old Trafford and Edgbaston and the final at Lord’s. The ticket ballot for the opening ceremony will open on Thursday.