Breaking: ICC Announces Schedule For World Cup Warm-up Games

The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Thursday (January 31), announced the schedule for the warm-up games ahead of this year’s ICC World Cup 2019 in England. Hosts England will take on South Africa in the opener on May 30, 2019, at The Oval in London. The tournament will last for 45 days with 48 matches to be played. India will start their campaign against the Proteas on June 5.  The format for the 2019 edition will see 10 best teams in the world going head-to-head in a round-robin format. The tournament will culminate with the fifth final at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground on July 14.

But ahead of the main event, the teams will have an opportunity to get into groove by playing warm-up games.  All the ten competing nations will play two official warm-up fixtures ahead of the tournament. The warm-up ties will be held between 24-28 May, and will be hosted at four of the official CWC19 Tournament Venues; the Bristol County Ground, Cardiff Wales Stadium, Hampshire Bowl and The Oval.

Some of the mouthwatering clashes during the warm-up phase will be the England v Australia, Pakistan v Afghanistan and Bangladesh v India.

As per previous ICC tournaments, warm-up fixtures will be 50 over per side, but will not carry official ODI status. As the existing rules, the teams will be allowed to field all members of their 15-man squad during the match.

Here is the schedule for the warm-up games of ICC World Cup 2019: