2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup warm-up matches from 24th May
Pakistan will warm up for the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup with practice games against Afghanistan and Bangladesh on May 24th and May 26th at two different venues.
The 2019 Cricket World Cup or ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is the 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup, scheduled to be hosted by England and Wales, from 30 May to 14 July 2019.
The hosting rights were awarded in April 2006, after England and Wales withdrew from the bidding to host the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, which was held in Australia and New Zealand. The first match will be played at The Oval while the final will be played at Lord's. It is the fifth time that the Cricket World Cup will be held in England and Wales, following the 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999 World Cups.
The format for the tournament will be a single group of ten teams, with each team playing the other nine teams, and the top four teams progressing to a knockout stage of semi-finals and a final. The ten team tournament has gained criticism due to the lack of Associate teams in the tournament. Given the increase of the Test playing nations from 10 to 12, with the admission of Ireland and Afghanistan in June 2017, it will be the first World Cup to be contested without all of the Test playing nations being present, and after the elimination of all the Associate teams at the qualifying tournament, this will be also be the first World Cup to feature no Associate members.
According to the International Cricket Council (ICC), Pakistan will play Afghanistan in their opening warm-up fixture at the County Ground in Bristol on May 24 before taking on Bangladesh on May 26 at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.
Apart from Bristol and Cardiff, the warm-up matches involving other seven nations are slated to be staged at The Oval in London, and the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. All four venues are among the World Cup venues.
The rivals England and current World Cup champions Australia will face each other in Southampton on May 25th, while India will begin their warm-up schedule against New Zealand at The Oval on the same day in their opening matches.
West Indies, winners of the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979, will be taking on South Africa in Bristol on May 26th, two days after Proteas meet Sri Lanka in Cardiff.
The 50-over per side fixtures will be classified as officials One-day Internationals with teams having the luxury of fielding all 15 members of their official World Cup squads during each of the warm-up encounter.
SCHEDULE FOR WARM-UP MATCHES:
May 24: Pakistan VS Afghanistan (Bristol); South Africa VS Sri Lanka (Cardiff).
May 25: England VS Australia (Southampton); New Zealand VS India (The Oval).
May 26: South Africa VS West Indies (Bristol); Pakistan VS Bangladesh (Cardiff).
May 27: Sri Lanka VS Australia (Southampton); England VS Afghanistan (The Oval).
May 28: New Zealand VS West Indies (Bristol); India VS Bangladesh (Cardiff).
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